In A Dream
by pendragon94
Summary: AU, Bill disappears, and Sookie goes to Dallas with Eric. Things go much differently when she doesn't have someone else pulling her strings.
1. Chapter 1

I mill around in the front room, Godric having disappeared with Eric in tow and leaving me behind with Stan. Isabelle is of course off with Hugo, saying her goodbyes and escorting him from the area to ensure his safety. The look on Stan's face had said enough when Godric laid down his verdict, letting the human go, and Isabelle was making sure he made it far away before she let him be free. A blond woman comes up to me and starts to chat, the vampire I recognize as having given me this white leather jacket and dark blue jeans since my dress had been torn up. It was a shame, since Eric had bought me that dress for going undercover, despite my doubts of him knowing what I would like. I hadn't admitted it to him yet, but I was definitely looking his way more, especially after Bill had up and taken off without telling me the night before Gran's funeral. Surprisingly it had been Eric who came by my house that next night, left a bouquet of flowers on the porch, and signed a note saying 'I'm sorry for your loss'.

Not much is said, mostly just her thanking me for my hand in freeing Godric, and she walks away a minute later as Stan's eyes follow her. The front door swings open, someone new stepping inside, and taking a step back I look at their mind. "Eric." I say his name only slightly above normal volume, my eyes locked onto where the human would come out of the hallway any second and I feel his hand touch my shoulder. He tenses slightly when my hand clutches his, and I give him a fearful look even as he starts to wear his signature smirk.

"What is it?" He asks, realizing that I am quite serious at the moment, and he glances around the room.

I open my mouth to speak, but the young man comes in just then and there's no time as he decides to forgo the greetings and just reaches into his jacket for the detonator. "Everyone down!" I scream, and my vision goes black as the explosion wreaks havoc through the room. When I return to awareness there is a massive weight on my chest, and I only realize its Eric when he falls to the floor next to me with a grunt. He's lying on his back, and from the look of his chest he'd put himself in front of me to shield me from the explosion. Groans and sounds of pain are coming from every direction in the destroyed living space, but they are second on my mind as I stare down at the Sheriff. "Eric?"

Blood oozes through his shirt and ripping the tattered cloth aside I see jagged holes in several places as well as over where his heart should be. Not really thinking, I lean down and lock my lips to his chest until a second later when a piece of metal pops out. I move on to each spot methodically, making sure not to miss any of the silver as it stops him from healing. Looking back up at his face, his eyes are slowly opening as I spit the last of the pieces out, and it occurs to me that I've probably swallowed a fair amount of his blood without thinking about it. I try to move the hand that I'd used leveraged against the floor to hold myself up and wince when a sharp pain runs through my entire arm. Looking down, I see that something has cut a long gash nearly from my elbow to my wrist, blood dripping steadily down my fingers to the floor. A loud growl makes me jump slightly, and I find myself suddenly being held against Eric's chest as he sits up against a wall.

"She is mine." He intones dangerously, his tone stopping the advance of several injured vampires I hadn't noticed before as they'd begun creeping up behind me. They are all unwilling to challenge such an intimidating older vampire but contrary to their reactions, it sends pleasant butterflies through my stomach as he says the words. The same phrase from Bill did not make me feel this way at all, completely the opposite, and I look up at Eric in a slightly new light as he stares down the room.

"Everyone start getting yourself together. I have notified the Hotel Camilla, and they are ready to receive all of us with donors and medical attention. Move in groups, in case more of Newlin's people show up." Godric is now standing in front of us having come from somewhere else in the house and Eric relaxed slightly the second his maker appeared. Stan is not far from us and is looking to be missing an arm as he was standing right inside a hallway next to the bomber. Godric heaves him up by the other remaining limb before helping him out of the destroyed glass back windows. Nobody so much as looks at us again as Eric examines my arm silently, holding my arm out in front of him, and I watch in fascination alongside him as it magically heals over a few quick seconds.

"You swallowed my blood." He says, his voice flat and without any particular inflection to betray how he feels.

"I… I'm sorry?" I'm quiet, unsure if he will be angry with me, and when I look away uncertainly his arm around my waist briefly constricts slightly tighter.

"You have nothing to apologize for." His slight smirk sets me at ease when I meet his gaze, and he refuses to put me down as he stands in the almost empty room, his arms holding me bridal style effortlessly.

Godric comes back inside and cocks an eyebrow when he sees us, causing me to look down in embarrassment. "It would seem your warning saved all but one of the vampires. However I believe it was his own personality, his stubbornness and unwise choice not to listen to you, which led to his demise." I look back up at him, surprised he doesn't say anything about the position I'm in, and just nod at his statement. He watches the last few vampires and humans making their way out of the different exits, and looks back at Eric once they are gone. "Are you ready?"

"She removed the silver from near my heart, so I'm fine now." He says factually, and I blush as I feel Godric staring at me while I stare at Eric's chest, watching the skin through tattered fabric as it's slowly pulling itself back together.

There's a little whoosh as Godric is gone but as I turn my head toward where he was we are suddenly moving and then the ground is falling away. I shriek is surprise, clutching my arms around Eric's neck. "Don't look down." He says, giving a hard laugh, and it breaks the uncertainty I was feeling. Pulling one hand free, I smack his shoulder and give him a stern frown as he looks down at me with an eyebrow raised.

"Don't do that!" His chest just continues to vibrate as he laughs soundlessly, and I put my forehead against his collar bone as I refuse to look out again. My stomach is already flipping as I think of how high up we might be.

"You know I wouldn't drop you." I'm stopped mid thought by the serious tone of his voice, and he's staring straight ahead when I look up at him.

Leaning up, I give him a kiss on the cheek, and his eyes are piercing into mine instantly. "Thank you for saving me." I'm feeling bold, and I don't feel as though I'll regret anything I'm about to do. There was always a hesitation with Bill, something nagging in my head that told me I shouldn't let go of myself around him, but I don't feel that with Eric. Thinking back, I never did, and it was Bill that stopped me from really talking to Eric before. "I kind of liked it when you said I was yours." I'm sure my face is beat red as I admit it, and I drop my gaze to his neck as I start to feel nervous a second later when he doesn't respond.

"Would you like to be mine?" The grin on his face is small when my eyes flick up to him, but it's getting wider by the second, and I take a deep breath.

"You can only be with me though, if you want to be. No more fangbangers… at all." He seems to consider this for a long second, but has a playful smile on his face the whole time before he leans down and kisses me.

"You are mine then." A pleased growl rumbles quietly in his chest as soon as he breaks away, leaving me breathless. "I'll have your things moved to my room."

He raises an eyebrow as I give him a hard look, before finally huffing out a breath and he grins wider. "You're very high handed."

It doesn't take long for us to get to the hotel, and only a few minutes for Eric to have a quick talk with the front desk while I stand with Godric at the front door. When he returns, he gives Eric a solemn look. "Sookie is likely due to eat, so why don't you tend to her while I take care of some things?"

"I should probably change my clothes first… and get a shower." Eric looks down at my clothes covered in dust and blood, and torn in a few places, as well as his own before giving me a nod. He gives a number to the valet, and the boy runs off with a set of keys pulled from his lock box.

"We will speak later this evening." Godric says, disappearing into the hotel.

"Where are we going?" I ask Eric, and he holds my hand as I sit down into the sleek sports car.

My door shuts and he appears in the other seat a second later. "I would like to replace the dress that got ruined."

"What places are even open at… two in the morning?" The only places around Bon Temps, and even Shreveport I think, would be gas stations.

He chuckles slightly as he begins to speak. "Dallas has a much higher vampire population than Shreveport. Some places here are even open exclusively at night, and serve higher priced and higher quality goods since the more notable vampires here have amassed great wealth. There are also restaurants where we can both have a meal, mine bottled of course."

I think about his statement, using the small mirror in the visor to fix my hair as best as I can without a brush and he focuses on the road as he drives. "You could always drink from me…" I'm quiet, thinking about how I had shamefully been testing my telepathy on the fangbangers hanging around the hotel during the previous couple of nights. Despite the fact that I was sure Gran would be rolling in my grave, I had tried to experience through a few of them to feel what it was like to be bitten, and found that it seemed to be enjoyable when the vampire wasn't rough. So while the prospect made me nervous, I was more than willing to try since I was certain he was weakened after the explosion earlier and from having silver embedded in his chest. Silver bullets and shrapnel that should have ended up in my own body.

"It won't hurt at all, if I do it correctly." I blush, certain he has a devilish look on his face as he says it but I refuse to look at him as he speeds through the streets at a pace I'd rather ignore.

He remains silent as I don't say anything and we soon pull into the parking lot of a plain looking building, entering through a black door on the side. The interior is a shock to see, all elegance as a woman with a big retail smile greets us and Eric asks where the sun dresses are. She doesn't give a second thought to our appearances, and I'm surprised that she doesn't seem to be judgmental in any way. When I find something I like, I'm surprised that it doesn't have a price tag, and I will myself not to look at the cashiers mind as she rings up the sale. Eric hands over a card without question while I fidget and he puts an arm around my shoulders as he seems to feel my conflict, his face blank but actions making me feel reassured.

"Have a good day, Mr. Northman." The saleswoman says, giving me a bright smile as he takes the bags from the counter and leads me back to the car. The hotel lobby is just as crowded as it was before, and I don't miss the eyes on me as Eric's arm is around me. It's a strange feeling, being envied by others, when nobody in Bon Temps has ever been jealous of me for anything. Thoughts from some of the woman who recognize Eric and his reputation are more vicious, and I hastily put up my shields. As I do so, I find that it is easier than normal, and I ponder on what could be the cause.

"What are you thinking about?" I laugh, the absurdity of his question catching me off guard, and he gives me a strange look as the elevator doors close.

"I've never been asked that before, and I've never had to ask." I elaborate, and stop chuckling as I voice my theory. "I think your blood made it easier for me to put my shields up."

"Shields?" I give him a long look, deciding to try and explain it, never having done so before.

"My telepathy isn't really focused unless I try. I have to keep my shields up to block all of the thoughts whenever I don't want to listen. If I don't have shields up, I'll just hear everyone in my radius at once and I can't keep up without focusing. When I was little I couldn't control it and would spout off the thoughts of people at random, making a lot of people think I was crazy or something. "

"You have to focus on this at all times?" He asks, and there's a strange crease on his forehead.

I pull his arm down and take his hand, "You already know that touching intensifies my focus, lets me hear better, but I can't hear you so it just makes everyone else quiet. It's like putting on earmuffs in a noisy room."

"I suppose I won't be letting you out of my arms reach then."

I'm surprised to say the least, looking at him with his smirk as the doors open to our floor, but it is nothing compared to the shock I feel a second later. Standing there at the end of the hall, with a tall red headed woman, is Bill.

He doesn't notice me and is standing to the side, leaning over her as she's up against the wall with a smile on her face. Eric tenses next to me, and I also do so slightly before his arm moves over my shoulders, his hand laying against the other side of my neck. "You are mine." He whispers to me, and I'm sure he feels it as the clenching in my stomach is soothed away.

The red haired woman frowns when she turns her head slightly and sees us, and when Bill follows her lead, he freezes in place before stepping away from her. "Sookie?" He asks, his voice slightly strained, but I do my best to ignore him as Eric opens the door immediately on our right.

"Is that door soundproof?" I ask as soon as Eric closes it behind us, locking all of the locks before he sets the clothing bag next to where my suitcase has been left on the bed. He nods, and there is a gleam in his eye. "I don't want to see Bill, and I am getting a shower. If the hotel restaurant is open, we could go there to eat?"

"Certainly. How badly do you not want to see Bill?" He's eyeing the door, and a second later I hear someone knocking.

Rolling my eyes, I go towards the bathroom. "Don't do anything you'll get into trouble for."

He's walking towards the door with a smile, and I wonder if I should have given him more boundaries but I push the thought away as I get into the shower. I wonder what Eric is doing as I'm taking my shower, and at one point I wonder if he will come in, but decide that he is smarter than that although I don't exactly resent the idea. I'm almost done when a wicked thought crosses my mind, and I start playing with myself, relaxing as I imagine that it's Eric touching me.

When I emerge a while later, I act innocently as I find Eric sitting at his laptop, although I don't miss his leg bouncing up and down slightly. I remember it as a tick one of my science teachers once had when he was sexually frustrated with his wife, and I wonder if it could be the same for the vampire in front of me. It looks like he's already changed, and perhaps showered to which I give him an odd look. "I took a quick shower in Godric's room next to us after Compton left with his maker." I don't think he notices the slight edge in his own voice, as he's turned to look at me.

"His maker?" Pushing the thoughts of what I had done away, I focus on this new tidbit.

"Her name is Lorena. She is insistent that you belong to 'her William' and that you should have been released to them. Not likely to happen considering I just filed the paperwork to register you as my human with the authority, which is well above Bill and his maker. They were quite the violent pair in his early days, killing their way through several brothels." He stands, pulling me to his chest and giving me a chaste kiss. "Are you ready to go eat?" He asks, and I give him an unsure look.

"There's a lot about Bill I don't know." I murmur, and he nods, seeming to consider something.

"I think that, perhaps, he didn't meet you by chance."

"What do you mean?" For some reason I don't like where this is going.

"When I questioned the queen on his presence, she told me that I was not to bother him, as he was on a special assignment. Before he came to Bon Temps, he was the Procurer of the queen's court. His task was to collect rare and… unusually delicious humans."

"Procurer." I test the word, wondering if it means what I think it means, and deciding that it does as I see the careful look on Eric's face. He doesn't comment as I go through several emotions quickly. "I think I knew that something wasn't right with him. When he said I was his… I didn't like it. It just felt wrong, as if deep down I knew that there was something else going on."

"Well, you are no longer his concern, as you are mine. I am sure you are hungry, so how about we put this topic to rest for now and get you something to eat?" His suggestion is welcome after several seconds of stewing in my own thoughts.

This time there is no one in the hallway, and the lobby is a little emptier as he escorts me to the restaurant, Godric joining us from nowhere as we are seated at a table behind a high partition. It cuts off my view from the rest of the room, but if Eric stretched he could still see. "What are you?" Godric asks as soon as the waiter leaves with our drink orders, and I give him a long look. He seems to be only a late teenager, and despite the powerful air about him, I sense that I can trust him so I smile genuinely.

"I don't really know, but I'm a telepath, so there's that."

"You are honest." He says, seeming to be only slightly surprised, and I take it as a compliment.

"I feel like I can trust you." I shrug, and Eric seems to be pleased as he beams a smile at Godric.

His maker gives him a long stare, before giving Eric a slight pleased look. "I have resigned from my position as Sheriff, and I am thinking of moving to your area."

Eric looks stony for a second, before I can hear a distinct happiness in his voice. "I'm certain the local Sheriff will approve your application to move in. I can also have it slipped into the queen's files without her seeing it."

For the first time, I see Godric chuckle, but he retains his cool indifference the second the waiter appears with a tray of glasses. Two tall glasses of dark red are set in front of the vampires, and I receive my glass of sweet tea and a glass of water. I look over the menu quickly, and give him my food order before he jots it down and gives me an odd look before he walks away slowly.

 _Here with two of oldest vampires on the continent? Who is that woman? I should talk to Steve._

Sighing, Eric looks at me questioningly as I put my head into my hands. "Why can't I have a single normal night?" I ask him a second later, exasperation clear on my face as he just seems confused. Godric looks at him uncertainly, then turns to me.

"Did you hear something?"

"He's quicker than you." I tell Eric, and for the first time I see him look chagrined as Godric looks sort of triumphant.

Giving Eric a quick kiss, I smile up at him. "Want to do me a favor?" I say teasingly, and he chuckles.

"Name it." His challenge hangs there, and I'm almost sorry to disappoint him with such a mundane task.

"That waiter is a member of the fellowship. He works here to report people and vampires to the reverend that are different than normal, and now he's wondering why I'm here with 'two of the oldest vampires on the continent'. I would prefer that a crazy man twisting the words of god not think I'm even alive. Do you want to go take care of that for me?" He's serious as he thinks of the implications of having fanatics coming after me for some weird grudge, and he gives Godric a look before giving me a peck on the lips and taking off.

"My Gran raised me to be a proper lady, and I usually do my best to be that, but with Eric I feel like I'm completely unhinged." I say quietly as soon as Eric is out of ear shot, and his maker raises an eyebrow as he takes in my words. "You probably already know, since I think vampires can smell… it. But I plan on giving myself to Eric, and I'm kind of feeling like not myself since usually I would never think to toy with a man. I've been teasing him. I think it's because it feels like I can relax around him, which is a nice change, since I don't have anyone I feel that way with. I'm fairly certain he hasn't realized I keep messing with him on purpose." I give Godric a confident smile, keeping my emotions detached from my words so Eric doesn't suspect anything, and he is stoic for a minute before he busts out laughing.

"Perhaps my child has finally met his greatest challenge." He muses, and I feel accomplished.

"I get the feeling that he gets his way too easily."

"Yes, but that is probably my fault. I guided him in the world, and as the world changed, money became the source of power. We learned to run a business, and he amassed his wealth long enough ago that anything he wants has been at his fingertips for a long while. In recent centuries, it may have gone to his head a bit more than it should have. I've been meaning to speak with him on this, but I've been distracted with other things."

Nodding, I decide that it makes sense, and a different waiter appears with my food as I wonder where Eric and the other waiter have gone. Godric asks me about myself as I eat, and I answer between bites as best as I can. I'm only about a third of the way done when Eric reappears, taking his seat next to me and making me jump slightly. "I wish you wouldn't do that. One of these days my weak human heart is going to stop beating from shock." He actually looks a little unsettled by this, and Godric gets a slightly dark look on his face as he looks on from across us. "I was just kidding since I've never been sick a day in my life, not even a cold or anything, I promise." I say carefully as I hadn't meant to upset him in any way.

He nods, but Godric actually looks surprised. "Really?" He asks, and I nod, my mouth full as I confirm what I said.

"Gran always said I should be careful, because I never got chicken pox as a kid, and it is a lot more serious if you get it as an adult. But I don't know if I'm able to get it, so that might have something to do with the telepathy."

"Yes, I'd imagine it does. Do you know of anything odd in your family tree?" I think, and wonder if Gran had never told me something.

"Maybe, I don't know."

We continue talking, chattering until my dinner is done, and I order strawberry cheesecake for dessert. Godric looks stoic as he doesn't seem to be paying attention, but I can feel Eric burning a hole into the side of my head as I moan slightly, slowly enjoying piece after piece of cheesecake and fruit pieces. I give him a wide eyed, innocent look just after I hand my plate to the waiter, and he looks at Godric as he swallows despite not physically needing to.

"Eric, go find out Stan and Isabelle's room numbers."

He doesn't hesitate to do what his maker asks, giving me a heated kiss before going.

Godric dives right in, his mouth unstopping as he tells me more than I ever expected. "Eric has changed because of you, and he is more aware of you than he is himself. When you move, he does, even if it's just a twitch or shift. When you made that comment about your heart, I had the feeling that should you leave the world now that you are newly his, he will do the same." The color of his eyes seems to change to black as he looks me over. "For some reason, I feel as though you are meant to be his bonded." He stares at me a moment more as he seems to calm down, then starts explaining what a bonded is, and he hurries to finish as I think he senses Eric coming back. "You should consider your life span, and what age it is that you would truly want to be turned. Being bonded beforehand will change the maker child bond, and you will be more equals than a maker and child. Part of his strength should become your own as you turn, so that you are able to defend yourself. Being his will make you a target, and if you are to survive in the long run, you need to be able to hold your own when you're separated from him."

His true and harsh statement is a lot to take, but I swallow it all without much hesitation, deciding that I like the sound of being bonded. "Call him Viking." Godric says with a slight smirk, seemingly as an afterthought, when I say that I like the thought of bonding. It certainly gives me ideas, and I grin as Eric sits next to me a few seconds later. The vampire part of course is something else to consider, but I don't turn the idea away as I consider that it would mean being with Eric forever. Taking a slow drink of my tea, I give Godric a wink that Eric can't see, and turn to give my love a smile.

It strikes me that this is the first time that I've thought that about Eric, and I find myself agreeing, that I do indeed love him.

"I will be on my way. Consider dinner on me." Godric says, deciding to leave, and he is quickly gone.

Leaning up, Eric doesn't move as I get close to him, and wrap my arms loosely around his shoulders from the side. "I knew _exactly_ what I was doing in the shower." I breathe into his ear, trying to think of some of the things that I've seen other woman thinking of which was enjoyed by their men. It seems to work as he pulls me into his lap to straddle him and I shift for a second, getting locked into his arms as a hand on the back of my head brings me down to kiss him relentlessly. After a minute, I manage to keep up, returning the attention and battling my tongue with his. I feel a bit surprised when a bulge presses into me and I shift closer to him.

His fangs jump down, and I lean back as I stare at them. Giggling slightly, I feel his arms tense around me a little, and give him a grin. "I'm not going to tell you, it'll only inflate your ego more than it already is."

Wiggling fingers jump to my sides, and I start to shake with laughter as he glares convincingly despite his smile. "Tell me."

Grabbing his hands, I entwine my fingers with his at my sides, leaning in to give him a quick kiss before chuckling into his ear. "Your fangs… they're bigger than Bills." I quickly put out the last part, and bite my lip as I lean back, trying not to giggle more. He grins, baring them before he is nibbling at my neck suggestively, and after a second I find that I like it.

"I guarantee that something else of mine is bigger as well." Voicing it against my skin makes goosebumps rise on my neck, and I roll my eyes.

"You're terrible. I wouldn't know, since I never let it get that far with Bill." He grins at me, sort of seriously but not really as he already knew this.

"Then I shall need to take especially good care of you."

"You've already surprised me, being so calm when I've been winding you up for the last hour or two."

He growls, biting slightly harder for a second without breaking the skin as his fangs scrape me delicately. "You have no idea how much I wish to let myself go, but I do not want to lose myself with you."

"I don't know, you could always drink some from me now to cool your head, then take me to our room and have your way with me before sunrise." A point digs in slightly as he turns into the crook just beneath my ear.

"You seem rather certain, and calm about all this. Do you realize that I could kill you before you even register what's happening?" There's a mock threat in his voice but I can hear that it is hollow.

"I don't think you would. You like me too much." I tell him, just as I slide my hand up his shirt and slowly start running my nails down his chest. He hisses playfully, and I grin but pause as I feel a waiter walking almost in, before turning away quickly. "Are witches real? That waiter thinks I must be some kind of witch to have charmed you, and he didn't think it would be good to come in." I grin, and move to boldly kiss him.

"You are not a witch, you are my Sookie." He says certainly, right up against my mouth, and I feel a knot in the corner of my mind stirring. Giving him another kiss, I pull him back to where he was and twist my fingers in his hair as he considers where he wants to bite. I feel for that part of my mind, trying to reach into myself as I search for what could only be described as someone touching me a moment ago. It's at the same time that I feel as though I've reached it that Eric bites down softly, his hands rubbing over my back as he holds me closer. I feel it, his hunger, and I realize that I've found the blood tie we have. The breaking of my skin is nothing more than a tingling sensation, nothing happening for a second as he hesitates for some reason. Wondering if he can tell that I sense him, I pet my hand over his hair, finding myself moaning unwittingly as he responds with several drawn out pulls on my neck. His growl deepens, and I feel like melting as his vibration seems to resonate through my chest. Arching my back upward, I wrap my arms around his neck, holding myself snugly against his chest. Bringing one hand up, I press the sharply manicured nail of my thumb to his shoulder, digging in until crimson seeps forth and I seal my mouth to his skin. His senses are in overload, his arms like a cage around me holding me in place as his emotions become clearer.

"You are a dangerous little vixen." He pants against my neck before lapping up the blood that dripped, and going back to his bite marks quickly.

"Well you are a dangerous Sheriff, thousand year old vampire, and my Viking." I purr the words out slowly, licking the same spot on his neck even after it heals. "Would you also like to be bonded to me?" I chuckle, and he seals the marks on me before leaning back to look in my eyes.

"I see my maker has been meddling." He mutters, smiling, and I return the look.

"He only let me know the options, and gave me his thoughts. I decided to do this so soon, and my way, all on my own." I kiss him before he can speak and he reciprocates without hesitation, the bond telling me he is pleased with what I did.


	2. Chapter 2

"You can feel me." He says, seeming to just now realize when I give him a mental poke.

"So I can."

"Most humans can't feel it until the last exchange." I smile at his comment, before running my hand back through his hair.

"Godric doesn't think I'm human, and honestly, I don't either." I'm curious as to how it comes into my family line, wondering if Gran would have had any idea.

"I would agree, you do not taste fully human. Were I a newborn vampire, I doubt I could stop myself from draining you. You are intoxicating." The last words are muffled as he's kissing all over my neck, licking my pulse point several times as he continues to tease me.

"I guess I'm glad that I'm dating an old man then." I chuckle, squirming against him a little to elicit a growl.

"At least this old man gets stronger with age, and not the other way around." He leans closer, bending over me with his taller frame.

"Here I thought you were a weakling." A louder growl fills the air as he freezes, hearing something, and a knock on the partition a few seconds later makes him truly snarl for a second before going quiet.

"What?" His voice is deadly calm and the waiter pokes his head around, causing me to hide my face against my vampire's neck as I blush. My old insecurities are creeping up on me and I push back at them as I wait for the intruder to go away, trying to ignore the embarrassment I feel with the position I'm in.

"Sir, I'm sorry in interrupt, but if you could please keep the, um… growls to a minimum? You're scaring some of the people in the other part of the restaurant." There is no one sitting within a few booths of us, but as I listen to the minds of the people sitting a good distance away, I realize that Eric has been quite a bit louder than it seemed to me.

"Go away now." Eric snarls when the waiter doesn't leave, and I give him a scolding look as the man hurries away scared.

"You should be a little nicer." I kiss up his throat to his jaw, nipping his chin and causing him to pull in a sharp breath.

"The human needs to know his place." Shaking my head at his attitude, I drop it and move on as he smirks slightly.

Planting a kiss beneath his earlobe, I feel him relaxing slightly, and blow on his ear gently.

"Despite your status, you are deceptively good at this." His words are in a hushed tone, and I pause for a second after I kiss his cheek, looking up at him with a smile.

"When you're like me, you find that humans think about sex… a lot, now that I really consider it." He chuckles, and I frown as I think about something. "If I'm going to spend any time at Fangtasia, I want you to have any girls you've done anything with glamoured. I'm not sure why, but I noticed the first night I was there, that you seem to have a thing for loud broadcasters and I would likely go insane if I had to keep hearing their pleas for you to 'choose' them again. I'll also get crazy jealous after a while." My cheeks burn a little as I admit it.

"Hmm… jealous Sookie could be something interesting to see." He arches an eyebrow, making me want to wipe the smirk from his face.

"If that happens, it'll be a first for both of us." Nodding as he feels my emotions in the bond, he pulls me up into his arms, and I gasp as I'm suddenly being held up against his chest at his full height.

"I will have Pam take care of the few humans I did not glamour myself when I finished feeding." He says without moving away from the table yet, and I silently thank him as I let that topic fall away.

"What are you doing?" I ask, my face turning red as several people watch us walk by their booths. "Eric, this is embarrassing."

"Too bad. You are mine, and I will carry you." There's no room for argument with his tone and I stare up at him dubiously but don't argue.

He tells the person at the podium to put any charges on our room and keeps walking, headed towards the elevator, and I sigh when I see Bill standing there with Lorena, surveying the people in the room from the corner. I'm also surprised to see that Godric is standing at the other side of the room, on one side of the receptionist's desk, speaking into his cell phone. Eric doesn't even seem to notice his maker, his eyes honed in on Bill, and I roll my eyes as Lorena leaves Bill to come stand before us.

"Sookie, what has happened to you? Bill has told me that you are his human and that Eric stole you from him, and I can help you, if you want." She asks, surprising me with the tone of her voice as she almost sounds concerned. Almost being the key word, since I suddenly remember Bill often using the same inflection, and in that moment a lot of my memories of him change.

"You!" The realization hits me, and I jump to stand as I blow past Lorena and stick my finger into Bill's face. "It was you wasn't it." Horror washes through me, but I hold it back as I know that nothing will change what happened, and anger is all that remains as I once again come to terms with my grief. "The way you acted… it was your fault that Gran was killed. I wondered after why Rene was so open, why he couldn't seem to stop to wait for the right time like he did with the rest of his victims. You glamoured him, pushed him to act on his impulses, didn't you?"

"Of course not!" He sounds sincere, and if I weren't staring right into his face I would have missed the hesitation. It's only for a second, just a tiny moment when uncertainty flashes in his eyes, but I see it. I'm split, as two sets of emotions seem to clash in me, one calling for revenge while the other telling me to be indifferent.

Something feels like it's burning in my head, right next to where I can find the connection to Eric, and I delve into it as it seems more than inviting despite what is happening at the moment. Something seems to go through the room around me, and I'm stunned as I suddenly look around and find that everyone is completely frozen. It's as though the room is full of statues, and I do my best not panic as I look at Eric's still form. "It's alright dear, he will be returned to normal in a minute, exactly fifty-five seconds though now."

"Who are you?" I ask, seeing a white haired gentleman in a nineteen-forty's style suit step out from behind Eric and approach me.

"I am your grandfather Niall Brigant. I kept your grandmother Adele company in the early days of her marriage, when Earl had a drinking problem and left her lonely often. He wised up when she fell pregnant, but neither of them ever thought it wasn't his when it was truly mine. It skipped a generation though, and you are fae. Forty seconds left."

"Fae?" I ask, and he grins.

"You made this freeze happen because you weren't sure what to do, and I sensed your spark which is the source of your powers flaring up so I came to see what was happening. It is usually only still for about sixty seconds when you do this, and I will need to leave before it's gone, so take this all in, and here take this as well." He hands me a book, and gives me a nod. "Only you should be able to read this, and if you wish to speak with me again, you can put your hand on the cover and call my name in your mind. I'll come as soon as I am able, and you can also drop my name to get some authority if you need it since you're pretty much already outed in this state for your abilities. It's only a matter of time before everyone knows, trust me. The fae are generally kept secret amongst the oldest of the vampires and other supernatural though, so you shouldn't be crowded. Being with the Viking helps. You can ask the book in a whisper to get smaller, and it will do so. Do the same to make it large again." He gives Eric a look before glancing over at Bill. "Don't be afraid to let Eric handle Bill. He will always protect you to the full extent of his abilities, along with Godric. I can tell as much, and you should trust their instincts." He's giving me a cheery smile, so I can't help but grin back as he motions me into the spot I was in before disappearing with a pop, and I hold the book as I ask it to get smaller, knowing I'll feel silly if it doesn't work. Luckily it does, dropping to the size of a thick square quarter, and I hide it in a side panel of my dress just a second before I see Bill move again in front of me. Everything Niall told me seems to click, but I start thinking of questions, and I know that I will have to speak to him again soon.

Ignoring Lorena, I huff that Bill is an asshole, and move back to stand next to Eric. Turning my back to the two unwanted vampires, I give Eric a loving look, and smile widely. "You can do whatever you want with them. I don't care anymore."

"Sookie!" Bill's sounds upset, and I ignore him, which seems to bother him more as I practically hear him gnashing his teeth. "Eric, under the order of Queen Sophie Anne, I am to remove Sookie from you and take her to New Orleans."

"Bill, you seem to not have realized something." Eric says, and I smile as I catch Godric looking at us, taking Eric's hand in mine as I do so. He squeezes it gently, seeming to stroke the bond at the same time as he partially separates me from his barely contained anger. "She is bonded to me, and she is mine. Sookie goes nowhere that I don't want her to go." I give him a sideways glance, but realize that with my having quit Merlotte's there's nowhere that I actually have to be present without Eric. That thought leads to the one where I realize that I don't want to be away from Eric at all, and that idea appeals to me more than I ever thought it would.

"She cannot be bonded!" Bill immediately says, finally being caught off guard, and I turn on him.

"Why not, Bill? Hmm? Why can't I bond to Eric? Maybe because the Queen of Louisiana ordered you to procure me, and then she was going to sell a fellow supernatural being into slavery as a blood bank. Isn't that kind of illegal, since I think you and I both know what I am?" I only stop when I feel Eric's pain through the bond, and I look down to see that my hand is glowing against his. Releasing him, I think of what Niall had said to me, and turn my hand toward Bill at the same time that I start feeding energy into the fire that feels like it's burning in my head again.

A blast of white light hits Bill square in the chest, singing Lorena's arm as it passes her by, before sending her child into the wall behind them both. Lying still on the ground, it looks like he is stunned, and the red headed woman hisses before advancing closer to me with her fangs down.

Eric doesn't have a chance to move before Godric is there, holding Lorena by the throat as he tosses her back against Bill. "Don't move. You know who I am." Pulling out his cell phone, he hits several buttons before suddenly speaking as he gives Eric and me a small grin. "How about we let Preston in on this." His tone changes as a voice comes through the phone, and Eric grins as I feel his strong amusement through the bond. "Yes, my king, this is Godric. I am at Hotel Camilla and I have detained two slave traffickers who intended to take someone special… her name is Sookie, your majesty… yes we will wait." Closing the phone a second later, he looks at us. "He's coming with the guards he is ordering to retrieve his new prisoners, and would like to meet you, Sookie." He looks at the receptionist. "Call security to detain these two in silver until the king arrives to take them. They are not to be released."

Security arrives a few minutes later, and I refuse to look at Bill who is giving me pleading looks as silver cuffs are placed onto his and his makers wrists. Eric's arms swoop to pick me up and his hands are then grasped onto my shoulders as I'm standing again, his eyes burning into mine as we're suddenly alone with his maker in one of the hotels private lounge rooms. "What are you?" He demands, and there's a hint of betrayal as he wonders if I was somehow lying to him about not knowing. Giving him a reassuring feeling, I pull him to settle onto the couch with me, and I quietly explain everything that happened when I 'stilled' the room. Both of them listening intently as I divulge it all, until the end when I feel a strange emotion from Eric. "You are a princess then." He has a wicked smile on his face, and I give him a surprised look.

"What are you talking about?"

"Dear one, Niall Brigant is the ruler of the fae. He is the king, and you are the only descendent I know of… making you the princess of the sky fae." Eric says it gently, seeming to realize that I do not like this revelation as he explains it.

"Oh." Is all that I can manage as I blink several times, looking at Godric. "What's Preston like?" I've decided that I want to kill that topic for the moment, let it die and be forgotten for a while as I don't want to think at all about being a princess of any kind.

"He is only about five hundred years younger than me, but he is fascinated by the rarest of supernatural, choosing to study them and leave them alone. That alone makes him a good ally for you to have, as I believe that he will like you. He will also likely be amused at the effect you have on Eric." The ancients grin makes me smile as well.

"His favored past time, when I have spent time around him, was teasing me about my demeanor. He is a strong ally." Through the bond, it feels like Eric is thinking back over the memories as there is a muted irritation directed at someone else, but still trust.

"Of course not, you don't like anything that's fun for anyone else." Godric seems to be trying not to laugh at my comment.

"What most call fun, I call annoying."

"What most call annoying, I can fun." I counter, and he snorts, causing me to put my finger to his shoulder and zap him with a little touch of light.

"I am pleased to see that the fae can hold her own against the Viking." A voice states, and I look over to see an Egyptian man, his face having all of the features but his charcoal grey suit being a stark contrast.

A second later he is standing in front of me, and reaches his hand out to touch my shoulder. Eric bats it away, growling, and I give him a surprised look as I turn back to the king a second later. "He's my bonded." I tell the king before Eric can say anything, seeming to catch him off guard before he looks at Eric with a slightly different expression.

"Then my apologies, Viking, I did not know she was yours." He puts his arm over his waist, and bows slightly for a second, acting more like a dignified human than a vampire.

Eric just gives me a quick look, and I can tell he's surprised about something. "The offenders are being held by hotel security."

"Very good work, former Sheriff. As I said before, should you wish, you can be a Sheriff again anytime. Just say the word." He doesn't wait to see if Godric responds, and turns to look at two men standing in the doorway to the sitting area. "Go take Lorena and her child. Give me the keys to a car." I don't see it, but the key is thrown through the air and suddenly is in Preston's hand before he pockets it.

Looking back at me as his subordinates leave, Preston takes a seat on the couch across from me and Eric. "So, which sort of fae are you? The light from your hand gave it away when you zapped Eric."

Not sure how to answer this, I go back to what Niall had said. "My grandfather is Niall Brigant, if that means anything to you?"

He leans forward, the intrigue clear on his face, and rests his arms on his knees. "How long have you known, since your clearly a hybrid?"

"It was only discovered recently, so we don't know much about it yet." Eric interjects, and I lean against him, reminding myself that I can now rely on someone else if I want to.

"You should try hiding your scent. Some of the hybrids I've spoken with before say that you just need to tell your spark that you wish to hide yourself." Preston says, and I think about what he says before trying it, wishing that I could hide myself somehow.

"Oh my." The king says, sitting straight suddenly, and leaning back in his chair as he seems surprised by something.

"What?" I ask, looking at Eric, who's gaping at me.

"You're invisible." He says quietly, reaching out slowly to caress my cheek as he isn't sure whether or not he knows where it is. When I let myself be visible again, I have a smile on my face, and he smiles back as he sees me again. Trying again, I wish for just my scent to be hidden.

"Can you smell me now?" I ask Eric, and he shakes his head after a second, looking troubled until I release my scent again.

"That is quite a rare ability, and I would try to keep it quiet were I you, since it's a dead giveaway to you being a Brigant. Have you tried teleporting? It's supposedly easy once you do it a couple of times, just picture where you want to go and will yourself to go there."

I nod, deciding to do that later, and suddenly can't help myself as I yawn. "Sorry, I was almost blown up earlier, and it kind of tires a person out." Eric doesn't necessarily appreciate the joke, but Preston does, and laughs loudly before looking at Eric.

"Get the enjoyment of being able to take care of your fairy while you can. Eventually she'll be stronger than you, and you would do well to remember that." I laugh, unable to help myself before I give Eric a kiss and meet the king's gaze.

"I'll always let Eric take care of me. He likes it too much for me to stop him anyway."

"My Sookie is right." As if to emphasize his point, he stands with me in his arms. "She is also tired, so we will be retiring for the night. Good evening, king Preston."

"Bye." I wave at him as I'm carried away, and he smirks for a second before he turns to address Godric and they leave my view. In the next instant, I'm being pressed against the inside of the elevator as a blond vampire is attacking my mouth. The doors close behind him, and his hands are pushing through my dress fabric the next second, dancing over my sides and making me squirm against him.

"Stop! Eric… Stop!" I plead, giggling the words as I smile against his mouth and push against his hands to stop tickling me.

"It's exciting when my pray is unwilling." His growl in my ear would probably make anyone else's knees shake, and while mine are feeling weak, it's definitely not from fear. He nips down my neck, and I fight him tiredly as he doesn't let up on my sides, finding just the right spots and making me suddenly lurch in his hold. His fangs slip in roughly from my sudden movement, and I hiss at the sting, causing him to growl. "You should be more careful." He starts to lick at the wound and a second later the pain is gone.

"I believe that was your fault." I murmur, unable to wipe the grin from my face, and he is suddenly back up as he looms over me.

"You are my fairy, and I will not have you injuring yourself." He's using his serious Sheriff face, and I only hold together for a second before laughing loudly while the elevator doors reopen.

"You are my vampire, and I will not have you… getting what you want." I say devilishly, and try teleporting as I suddenly land on the bed in our hotel room. A sharp sound at the door alerts me to Eric quickly coming in, and I turn invisible just a second before he enters and locks the door behind him, snarling as he surveys the room. Making sure he can't smell me, I do my best to not move or make a sound as he doesn't move either.

"I'll get what I want, just you watch." He growls, and I think for a second, before appearing next to him. When he doesn't react, I assume that being invisible makes me silent since teleporting makes a small quiet pop, and I reach over to brush the hair on the other side of his head. His sharp turn makes him bare his back to me, and I rake my nails down his back before popping several feet away. He's slowly turning back around, and I look at the bond to feel him seeming to be… calculating. His expression changes, and he stalks towards the phone with a smirk as I step aside to avoid him running into me. "Since I am still hungry, and cannot find my preference, I'll just have to settle for whatever the hotel has to offer." He says woefully, and picks up the phone before pressing a button. "Yes, this is Mr. Northman, I was wondering if you have any blond-"

The phone hits the cradle hard as I jerk it from his hand and hang it up, and he grins down at me as I'm feeling a sudden possessive streak. "That's not funny. I'm not sure if I want to be yours if your commitment is so weak." I pout comically, and set on the bed as I turn my head away from him childishly, although I do bare my neck more than innocently.

Just as I thought he would, he's pushing me onto the pillows as his mouth meets my throat, kissing and sucking hickies into existence. "You are mine." His words are like cool water, making me shiver.

"Hmm… prove it." I challenge, jerking up and sinking my blunt teeth savagely into his neck until I taste the spicy sweet of his blood.

I'm glad that the room is soundproof as he practically roars, and I feel that he is incredibly turned on by the unexpected turn of events. His fangs sink into my neck, and there's no pain despite the fact that it feels as though this is the deepest he's bitten me before. Our bond opens more, and it seems that I can send him emotions now as I push the affection I have for him to feel. His purring sound is back, and we pull from each other for several more seconds until his neck heals. Licking the area clean, I run my fingers through his hair, and murmur into his ear. "I'm yours. No donors for you."

"No argument here." He breaks away to say it, and then sucks harshly as he returns to the marks from his fangs. It goes on for I don't know how long, slow pulls sending pleasant shivers through me after a short time.

"Is it strange that I'm enjoying this?" I moan, and I think I can feel him grinning against my neck.

I don't know what he says when he stops, since it's in another language, but I find that I like the sound of his voice speaking what is nonsense to me. It sounds endearing, whatever it is.

"Are you going to translate?" I ask after a moment, and he chuckles, licking the wound on my neck so that it heals slowly.

"I would rather teach you Swedish."

"Right now?" My question makes him laugh more, and he sits up, pulling from the bed as he goes to his suitcase across the room.

"Maybe tomorrow. You are tired and the sun is coming up soon. I'm going to change my clothes if you want to watch." His smirk makes a blush cover my face, and it's only a few seconds for me to grab what I need and go to the bathroom. A minute later when I'm redressed and have set the book Niall gave me on the counter I think to turn invisible and appear outside the bathroom door. Since he can't see me, I shamelessly look towards him, but am disappointed to see that he is already in a pair of sweat pants lying on the bed and fiddling with his phone. His chest is bare though, and I lean over the side of the bed as I examine his face framed in long blond hair. He sits up without warning, looking around the room. "What are you doing?"

There's a small smile on his face, and I realize that he must have checked on the bond to find me closer than before.

"Just looking around." I say without thought, and he looks right at where I am. Moving to the other side of the bed, I tap his shoulder, and he flips sudden to start pulling me against his chest as I let him see me again.

"You are getting comfortable with those fae powers." He notices, and I shrug slightly.

"I always knew I was different, just didn't know how. It's not hard to rationalize that there are more than just vampires out there."

"There are a lot of different supernatural beings out there. You will meet more, as time goes on, and you become more known to the world. You'll no longer be able to step back into your small town nobody life, since you are no longer nobody, and I've found that the world will follow you wherever you go." He's started playing with strands of my hair, and I look up at him as he wears a small grin

"You know, you're a big faker." He arches an eyebrow, and I poke a finger into his chest. "You act all cold and ruthless, but it's just that, an act. You feel, and you're a big softie."

Leaning closer, his nose brushes mine and he gives me a soft kiss. "Only for Sookie."

"You know, if you'd shown me this side sooner, I probably would have been yours a long time ago." I sigh, thinking of how much easier things could have been if I'd gone with Eric when I first met him, since I had wanted to do so then but Bill stopped me.

"Yes, but before I was angry with myself for being so obsessed with you. I had not accepted or acknowledged that I loved you." He says it without seeming to realize, since I can't feel him in the bond a second later and his eyes are boring into mine suddenly.

"I love you too." The kiss I give him seems to make him relax, and I rest my head on his shoulder after a minute, his arms caressing me to his side.

"It feels like I've been waiting for you for a while, as if that's what brought me to Shreveport." His voice is quiet, and he kisses the top of my head before we fall into comfortable silence.

I don't know when I fall asleep, but when I wake up, I haven't moved and I am content to remain where I am for a while before extracting myself from his hold. There's something about him watching me as I examine him that makes me too nervous to do so normally, but now that I see him dead for the day, I don't hesitate to run my hand down his arm. His skin is perfectly smooth and I don't see a single mark or blemish. Staring at his face, he doesn't seem to respond when I run my fingers over his abs, and I giggle scandalously before going to take a shower. When I come out, I check the time and see that it is already six in the afternoon.

Going to the desk provided by the hotel, I turn on the computer sitting there and sign in as 'hotel guest' before searching the internet for apartments for rent near Shreveport. Since I no longer was employed at Merlotte's, and worked at Fangtasia to make plenty of money, it would only make sense that I move nearer to where I work. Arlene had already agreed to rent and keep the house, and most of my stuff was already packed up as I planned to finish moving as soon as I got back. Jason had said he would pack some things for me if he had time, but as far as I knew he was still stuck on a job a few miles outside of New Orleans.

Browsing through different places, I'm just looking through search filter options when I see 'light tight' at the bottom of the list of choices. Looking at Eric, I realize something, and do a quick search on how early vampires wake up in the afternoon. What I find says it depends on their age, and that vampires older than eight hundred usually have no problem getting up an hour or two before sunset. Scanning the webpage that had opened, I find a line stating that vampires are usually extremely cautious with where they rest, since they are the most vulnerable at that time. I remember Bill saying something similar, and turn the computer off as I go the bed and scoot up beside Eric to lean over his chest and start kissing from his throat up to his chin. I rest my hands on his shoulders to steady myself, and I feel his end of the bond spark to life suddenly when I lightly bite his lip. His lips respond to mine as he growls playfully, and I smile as his arms warp around me. "I hope you're not someone who's grumpy when they get woken up a little early."

Another kiss comes to me, and he smiles with his fangs down as his hands rub my back. "Nobody else would survive waking me, but with you I find it to be quite an enjoyable experience."

"I do aim to please." I tease him, and he growls playfully. "But I know that we have a flight to catch in a few hours, and I wanted to ask you something."

"What might that be?" He asks, kissing my neck and threatening to distract me.

"Since I no longer work at Merlotte's, and I make enough money working for you, I decided that I was going to rent my house out to my friend Arlene and move closer to my job. I was going to find an apartment, but before I do, would you want me to live with you?" He stiffens slightly, looking up at me with a broad smile.

"If there is someone responsible for this miracle, please reveal them to me so that I might reward them for their involvement." I laugh loudly, and he chuckles as well, rolling so that I am the one beneath him now. "I thought I would eventually have to drag you from that house by your ankles to get you into my home. I'm almost disappointed that you've made it so easy."

"Well then I will get an apartment, and be abstinent until marriage while we take things slower. I wouldn't want to disappoint you." He pulls his cell phone from the bedside table, and I look at him quizzically.

"I know a pastor, and I will have him waiting at Fangtasia when we get back if you want to play it that way."

Blinking up at him, I'm speechless for a second. "You would really marry me, just like that?"

His smiles. "No, we need to go to a jeweler first to get your ring." The joke would be good if I didn't know he would do just that, and decide to go with it.

"You pick it out, surprise me… just not too much." He seems caught off guard by my acquiescence.

"Just wait. I'll make sure you love it." The fact that he sees this as almost a challenge just makes it better, and I can't wait to see what he comes up with.

"If I know you like I think I do already, you'll find the most perfect ring in the whole world. I also want to do it quietly, let's just sign the marriage certificate and have it all officiated legally. There's not really any instance I see where a wedding between us won't end in disaster due to someone interrupting or something crazy happening. Crazy things happen around Crazy Sookie." I smile with the last line, making the joke, and he frowns.

"Crazy Sookie? What sort of nickname is that?"

"A lot of the kids in school called me that, because I didn't have very good control over my telepathy. I would blurt things out that other people were thinking when I was stressed out, but nobody wanted to admit to their thoughts so they all called me that." I smile lightly as I say it, but I can feel that he's almost outraged over this.

"I do not want to hear you refer to yourself as such again. It is degrading and you are anything but crazy, you're intelligent, gifted and the most perfect mate I could have asked for. The small minds of your small town should hold no sway over the powerful person you are, and the even stronger one you will become." He looks ready to say more, and I kiss him fiercely, interrupting him as I wrap my arms up around his arms.

"Don't get so worked up, I won't say it again. Although I can't guarantee that anyone from Bon Temps won't say it, as it's sort of a running joke and some people still believe it." The growl that vibrates from his chest makes me want to melt.

"I've ended petulant humans for lesser offenses than that, but I suppose I will have to restrain myself as it would probably upset you to see me slaughter most of that town." He's only partially joking, and I have to remind myself that he is a thousand year old Viking vampire who usually offers no mercy.


	3. Chapter 3

"Thank you for putting up, but in case you didn't hear me before, I am no longer working at the local bar and grill. The only people you should have to worry about are Jason, Lafayette, Tara and maybe Sam if he shows up but I doubt he will since I told him off."

"Yes, why did you quit?" I can feel that it makes him happy to be able to say that sentence, since he'd never liked Sam, and had once said that I was above the place.

"You."

He looks surprised, but doesn't mind the idea as he arches an eyebrow. "What did I do?"

"Sam said something about Bill being gone, and vampires being out of my life. I accidentally let it slip that I was technically still working for you, and he blew a gasket yelling that I would end up tricked into being a vampire's blood slave to a whole room full of people. If I hadn't reminded him that while he had lied to me on a regular basis but you hadn't yet and then quit, he still would have gotten messed up since Lafayette 'bout came through the kitchen window when he heard Sam. He walked out with me, and is looking around for a new cooking job. If you know of any, I would appreciate it if you let him know."

Nodding, he seems to mull it over for a second. "I can come up with something, as a token of my thanks for being so ready to defend you. We should also send a crew to fix up the little things around your house before anyone moves in, to protect yourself for liability."

"We?"

"What's mine is to be yours, and what's yours is to be mine. No property in my care will fall into disrepair, especially not the house you grew up in. Arlene will have a handyman on call to bother whenever things need fixed."

For the first second I want to argue, but then I remind myself that I'm not the one who's going to be living there, and what he had said about our things was true. "Just the small things?"

"Sure." He avoids eye contact, and my argument leaves me as he drops to my neck and sucks harshly with blunt teeth.

"You really know how to distract a girl." I breathe out, and he chuckles.

"I believe it is time for me to get ready, and get a meal into you before we have to go to the airport."

"How about you? Thirsty?" His grin is devilish, but he stands from the bed, pulling me to rise next to him.

"I only need to really feed once every couple of days, but I may enjoy a taste every now and then without really drinking." A knock on the door stops him from saying anymore, and he opens it without a word to allow Godric to enter.

"Had I known you still needed to get yourself together I would have waited." He gives a shake of the head to Eric, who looks shocked to see Godric scold him, and the elder vampire looks at me as he winks when Eric can't see. "How about you get yourself together, since I will be joining you on your flight, and I will take Ms. Stackhouse to eat something at the restaurant."

"This'll be nice, you can tell me all of the embarrassing stories from Eric's younger days."

"Don't you tell her anything." He demands, looking at his maker who just cracks a smile and holds out his arm to me. I give Eric a quick kiss, and go with Godric who is silent and stoic as we travel down in the elevator. The waiter gives me a dubious look, which I dutifully ignore, and we are seated in a table not far from the exit.

"So what is it that brought you to Eric?" He asks as soon as the waiter is gone, and I'm caught off guard for a second before I think of an answer.

I explain about Rene, and what had happened after Bill disappeared. He listens without interrupting, and thinks for a moment afterward. "If you had Bill's blood when you met Eric, then it sounds as though he felt your attraction to him and tried to manipulate your emotions into disliking Eric."

"That sounds like Bill alright. The reason he moved into the house across the cemetery from mine was so that he could attempt to procure me for the queen of Louisiana by drowning me in his blood. I was thinking about it, and he fed me way more blood than he should have needed to when he saved me."

"Saved you?" He inquires, and I nod my head.

"Yeah he was late-" The second I say the last word it hits me. I feel Eric sort of grab me through the bond as I go on another emotional rollercoaster, and a minute later I think I feel him moving closer which strangely calms me.

"Sookie?" Godric asks, and I realize that I had stopped without explanation and been quiet in my own little world as he'd been staring at me.

"Sorry, yeah, I just figured something out."

"Sookie?" Eric is there, his hair still wet, but fully dressed and he sits down as he pulls me slightly to be flush against his side.

"When Bill saved me, it was because he was late meeting me after work. The drainers that I saved him from the night before showed up from nowhere, and jumped me. But after everything I've learned, I think he put them up to attacking me since they already had a reason and he probably didn't think I'd suspect anything." Growling, Eric is clearly unhappy and his arm appears around my shoulders as I try to feel out the bond. Apart from feeling generally angry, he is also extremely protective of me, and seems to be calculating at the same time.

The waiter arrives with my food and makes a point of not looking at Eric, who's foul mood seems to be evident just from the atmosphere of the table. "Bill is being handled already." I remind him, and lean up to kiss his jaw before turning my attention to the food in front of me. Slowly his anger dissipates as his arm falls so that his hand can rub circles on my back. It's relaxing, and he and Godric talk quietly while I finish my stroganoff.

"Movers will be taking care of packing the rest of your things and moving the boxes to my house tonight, before we return there."

"What? Eric, I wanted to take care of that stuff myself." I argue, handing the waiter my plate as he looks on, surprised when I say something back to the vampire next to me.

"What's mine is yours." He reminds me with a smirk, and my jaw drops as I stare at him.

"You are ridiculous." I breathe out, and glance at Godric, who seems to be studying Eric.

"I do believe that if _she_ asked, you would do anything." His voice sounds almost amused, and Eric gives him a dubious look.

"Can I have a Ferrari?" I ask jokingly, and Eric looks at me.

"What color?" He says without thought, and Godric laughs, making me chuckle as well.

Seeing the look on Eric's face, I frown. "I was kidding about the car."

"Too bad I took you seriously, because the color will have to be a surprise now."

"Don't you dare." I tell him seriously, but he just continues to smile, making me groan as I look at his maker. "I'm going to have to keep my joking within reason." He seems to crack a smile he didn't want to, and Eric chuckles next to me.

"Lover, you seem capable of something that I thought few could do which is amuse him." I blush with his pet name, but don't mind it and a minute later Godric sends his credit card off with the bill.

When we get into a black SUV, Godric gets into the driver seat and Eric pulls me against him in the back seat. Our bags and suit cases are already loaded into the back, and it takes just under an hour to pull onto a private air strip outside of the city.

Unlike the commercial airplane I had come in on, this is a white private jet with plush seats and a bar and lounge in the back. As soon as we get on, Godric sits up in the front row of seats with a book in his hand while Eric holds me steadily against his chest in a lounge seat. It's only a few minutes as the lone stewardess closes the door, straps herself in up front and the pilot announces we are taking off.

"This is much more relaxing than the first time." His chest shakes behind me in a chuckle, and he kisses my neck.

"Are you afraid of heights?" He sounds playful, and I think about it for a second.

"No, just the flying in a big tin can. Flying with you wasn't actually that bad." Pleased that I admit to enjoying flying with him, he gives me a kiss on the lips, before returning his lips to my neck. I don't notice when his fangs drop, but when he bites he takes a long lazy draw on my neck which sends sparks all the way to my toes. I stretch languidly against him, making him growl, before relaxing into his hold. "This seems to be a much better trip this time."

He seals the marks on my neck, then looks towards the bar. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Are you the bartender then?"

"Never before, but I can try my hand at it." Laughing, I give him a long kiss and as I stand up from his lap.

"How about I make my own drink, and you can watch to learn how?"

"At my age, I should not still be learning things from a small town waitress." I swat his shoulder as he follows me to the bar, and he leans against it with a smirk as I go behind the counter and start pulling out what I need. "This is a Whiskey Sour." He watches my hands, seeing exactly what I add and taking note when I add extra lemon. "If I get drunk, can you get drunk from drinking my blood?"

Laughing, he shakes his head, "No, it just makes you taste a little different."

I pick up my glass, taking a large drink without hesitation and swallowing quickly. Choking slightly, I can't miss the slight tingle that starts in my neck and starts to get worse as it reaches up into my jaw. My hands fly to my throat as the burning starts, quickly getting worse until my legs almost give out and Eric is picking me up in an instant. "What's wrong?" He asks urgently, and I almost cry when I speak.

"It burns." The pain of those two words is intense, and his fangs drop as he feels the pain resonate through the bond. Godric is there a second later, and Eric growls as he senses him getting closer, panting despite not needing the breath as he tries to control the urge to protect me.

"What did she drink?" He asks, and when Eric doesn't answer he looks at the glass and liquid that fell to the floor.

"Fae are allergic to lemon, as well as iron, and now that she's started using her light she must be unable to have it touch her. Your blood should be able to help."

Eric nods, returning to himself as he forces himself under control, and tears his wrist open before he offers it to me. The blood is like an instant cure, dousing the fire that had consumed my mouth and feeling like a cool wave as it makes its way down my throat. I pull at his wound until the skin heals, and sigh as he pulls his arm away, closing my eyes as it feels like I'm going to pass out. Sounds swim around me for a second, and then Eric's voice rings clearly in my ears. "Wake up for me, Sookie?" He sounds almost pleading, but I can't deny him what he wants and open my eyes to look at him. Grinning, he gives me a quick kiss, and I can almost feel his blood going to work chasing out the thing that was making me sick.

"Lemon is like poison to the fae. It would have absorbed instantly. It will be burned out shortly." Godric says, and I see him sitting on the opposite couch, giving Eric a serious look. "I would hope that you wouldn't force me to restrain you should she be hurt near me, since I can guarantee that I would never be the cause of her harm." Eric nods to his maker, accepting his promise, and giving me a serious look.

"You may be one of the most well protected fae in the world."

Giving him a kiss, I turn into his chest as he's already holding me bridal style and I close my eyes as I'm suddenly tired. "I'll try to be worth it."

"I think you're already worth it." Godric says before Eric can reply, and I smile, accepting the compliment.

"You want to know a secret?" I stage whisper comically to Eric, and he leans closer with a small smile. "I like my father in law."

The stoic vampire in question cracks with laughter, unable to contain himself as Eric also chuckles reluctantly, and I yawn as the elder recomposes himself. "You should sleep." Eric says, kissing my temple, and I just hum in agreement. I'm not even jostled as he settles us onto the couch, him holding me against him when at some point a minute later a blanket appears over us and I drift off.

I come back slowly, not having moved as it feels like the plane is descending, and I peek at Eric in the bond and by cracking my eye open. He's quiet, feeling completely content to hold me although there is a small underlying stream of emotions that tells me he is still conscious. His eyes are closed, and he's holding me so that he is able to lean over me comfortably.

He opens his eyes slowly when I put my hand on the side of his face, feeling his stubble against my palm as he smiles slightly. "I feel much better now."

"As do I then, since you do. I was quite… distraught when I didn't know what was making you burn like that. Had it been anyone but Godric that approached, I'm not sure what would have happened." I nod, understanding as I had felt his mindless urge to keep me safe from further harm.

"It feels like I'm all healed up now." I reassure him, stretching out in his lap and making him stare down at me hungrily. Thinking about how much time we have left before we are to return to Shreveport, I give him a heated look, and lean up to straddle him as I kiss him soundly. "Do you want to finish the bond?" I ask, breathing into his ear and he pulls back to look me in the eye.

"This will be the third time." I nod, this fact not lost on me. "It will be permanent, and you will be unable to ever leave me, are you sure?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't." The look on my face makes it clear that I am serious, and his fangs drop before he gives me a gentle kiss. "I want you, and I don't want to ever stop having you." I tell him, and he grins wider as he pulls a small dagger from seemingly nowhere, plunging it into his neck several inches deep. He barely flinches, but I jump at the suddenness of it, giving him a scolding look. "Don't do that without warning me." I lean closer and the blade is gone a second later, leaving me to seal my lips to the wound before the blood can drip out and stain his shirt. He leans in, kissing and scraping with his fangs as he finds the right spot.

We pull from each other at the same time, and the bond explodes as we feel every little thing from each other, even the smallest flitting emotions open to see as we are completely enveloped in each other. I do my best not to be overwhelmed as he seems to have no problem processing what he's getting from me, and a second later I feel like I've gotten the hang of it. _Mine, all mine, no one else's and I will protect what is mine. My Sookie. My fae. My love._

Fear strikes me as I realize that I've just heard his thoughts, and while every aspect of them makes me want to melt against him, I can't deny that I'm afraid of being able to hear vampire thoughts. The mark heals on his neck and I lean up. "I heard you." I barely say it, right into his ear, and he stiffens for a second. "My Eric. My Vampire. My love." I repeat back to him as he sends me comfort and reassurance, letting me know that it's okay. He seals his bite a moment later, and I guide his head back up to look at me. "Try to glamour me?"

He looks almost reluctant to do so, but finally nods and suddenly it feels like I'm captured by his gaze and can't look away. "Sookie… you will kiss me." I do so without control, only regaining myself after our lips have touched for a moment, and I smile up at him.

"Figures you'd use it for something like that." His salacious grin is endearing, and the plane touches down a second later. "Godric, can you try to glamour me?" I ask quietly, but loud enough that I know he will hear, as he's likely heard everything I've said.

When he appears sitting across from us, I can feel his influence trying to push into my head. "Sookie, you will slap Eric." I grin, but am relieved when it doesn't work, and Eric feels even more strongly so.

When we get to Fangtasia, the crowd is already packed, and it's like a whole new energy enters the bar as we come through the front door. Pam is carding people, and the crowd outside has also been invigorated to see Eric after his absence. I'm instantly receiving scathing looks as people see his arm around my waist, while the vampires all look curiously on, subtly scenting the air. I see more than a few heads turn when Godric follows us in a minute later, some of the vampires, and the human minds that were berating my every imperfection are suddenly turned on him as I relax. "Thanks." I whisper back at him, and he blinks, unsure what I'm thanking him for. "They aren't crucifying me so much now that they see a shiny new toy." He softly growls for the first time that I've heard, and I just smile gently as I realize that he doesn't like that they are thinking negative things about me. "I'm used to hearing it." I tell him, but that doesn't seem to really mollify him as Eric takes me to the bar and looks over. The vampire that replaced Long Shadow is a woman, tall and lanky with a tight patterned leather jumpsuit on and she moves with liquid smooth grace as she serves drinks. Her hair is cut short and spikey, sort of reminding me of Alice from the Twilight movies, not that I would ever have enough of a death wish to say so.

"Thalia." Eric says the name, and her eyes meet his as she continues to blindly hand off drinks. "This is my bonded." She gives me an even look, her eyes running over me before she gives him an approving nod. "She is much more reliable than Long Shadow." He murmurs in my ear, and I give her a smile.

"Can I get a gin and tonic?" Giving Eric a quick kiss, partially for myself and partially to play with the patrons, I assure him that I'll wait right here as he goes up to his throne. Godric takes a seat at an empty table not far from the stage after receiving a respectful nod from Thalia, and I can feel Eric's eyes burning a hole against me as soon as he sits down. When my glass comes I take a quick drink and set it on the counter, telling Thalia I'll be back for it before skipping up to the stage. There are murmurs from the crowd as I don't hesitate to set down on his knee and lean against him, and it feels like I'm better able to control the thoughts as I flit through them.

 _Maybe he's changed policy._

 _How come he hasn't thrown her across the room yet?_

 _I hope I get to see some blood. There's no way he'll just sit there._

 _Oh, I'm definitely trying that soon… since it worked for her._

Giving him a fierce kiss, he doesn't protest as I sit up and straddle him on the throne, and he chuckles when I lean back with a grin. "Is that jealousy I feel?" He asks in a low timbre, and I shake my head.

"A lady does not get jealous." I tell him, sticking my nose in the air, and he laughs which is a first for many of the bar patrons to see or hear. "Can I use your computer?" I ask, and he nods as I stand. Giving him another quick peck on the lips, I retrieve my drink from the bar and go down the hallway past the bathrooms and employee break room to his office. The closing of the door blocks most of the noise from the bar, and it doesn't take me long to turn on the shiny new looking machine. Ignoring the files on his desktop, I go straight to the internet, and get started. My task involves several trips to the bar, where I get a refill of my drink an uncertain amount of times, and do my best to ignore the leering looks as the men at the bar see that I am getting more and tipsier.

Going to the high backed leather swivel chair, I've just returned to what I was doing despite being less able to concentrate, when a light tap sounds on the door. I look up at the door as it opens slowly, and a man steps inside before he closes it behind him. "Hey, drunk girl." He says, and I close the laptop in my muddled state of mind as I hide my grin and arch an eyebrow like Eric does. "If the vampire that runs the place catches you back here, he's going to end up play a deadly game with you."

Unable to contain myself, I laugh loudly, whatever my previous plan was forgotten. "Eric can play with me any time."

The guy chuckles despite himself, and it's only then that I really notice the slightly devious feel to his mind. Trying to force myself to sober up slightly, I push out towards his mind. _Just need to get her out of here, then it'll all go easy. Just out of here, the back door is right there, no one will notice a drunken missing fangbanger._ I cackle suddenly, making him jump, as the thought of this human man trying to abduct me for a quick fuck is too funny in my current state.

Something akin to giddiness sweeps up into me, and I chuckle as I lean back in the chair. "You better be careful… Rodney."

He was taking a step towards the desk, but stops when I say his name. "How'd you know my name?" He asks, and I smile like the Cheshire cat, spinning around the in the chair a few times without thought.

"The vampires aren't the only special ones here." I say, leaving the chair spinning empty as I appear lying on the leather couch. Putting my hands above my head, I stretch out, and the thought of sleep teases in the back of my mind. "Leave the door open a crack, I like this song." The words tumble slightly slurred from my mouth, but for some reason I try to sound authoritative. He does so robotically not even recognizing his actions as he's eyeing my body. I see through him that my shirt rode up to expose a lower patch of my stomach when I stretched, and he's transfixed on the patch of flesh.

 _Hell, I'll just fuck her here and leave her for that vampire to handle once I'm already gone._ He's only partially drunk, but he is willfully ignorant as he doesn't further pursue how I knew his name. There's no recognition of what I made him do, and the ideas are suddenly too much as I start laughing loudly. I have no idea if this is because of the fae or the bond, but somehow it seems that I am able to glamour the man even without looking him in the eye.

"Turn around in a circle." I command, and his eyes glaze over for the second as he does so, before standing straight and continuing to stare at me as he doesn't remember what he just did. All he can think about is having sex with me, and I block those thoughts as I somehow still look into his head. Seeing what he's done to countless other girls, and knowing what he planned to try with me, I realize that he won't be long for this world no matter what. The thought would have bothered me at one time, what Eric will do to him, but I can't find any sympathy for him as I think it over for a second.

"First, I want a refill brought to me. Then I want you to go up to the stage and do exactly what I say." A fresh drink is brought to me by his hand a minute later, and he doesn't make a word of protest as he walks back out into the bar and steps up toward the stage. I can feel it through his head, having total control as he steps forward thoughtlessly, stopping in front of my bonded. Eric is playing with his cell phone, and ignores the human who has approached the stage.

"Your hair is like a girl." Despite the music, you could hear a pin drop as Eric's eyes are suddenly boring into the human, and I roar with laughter on the couch. I see Godric out of the corner of the humans eyes looking towards the office, but Eric doesn't waver as the human opens his mouth again. "But you're a very pretty girl. Just like the pretty one in your office." The growl coming out from Eric's chest makes the other humans back away from the stage, and he stands, making them back up further as Rodney is left alone at the base of the dais. Pam appears, taking his arm, and Eric feels unsure as he debates whether or not to follow her and the man downstairs. "What the hell?" He says the instance that I release my grip on him, pulling from his mind as he is already being yanked down the stairs to the basement.

I appear in Eric's chair behind him while he still has his back turned, and his intense irritation ebbs away as he senses I've moved and turns to see me smiling. "Is something wrong, min älskad?" An instant later he is kissing my neck as his hands are positioned on the arm rests, caging me in.

"So _that_ is what you've been doing?" He asks in my ear, and I nod, checking the bond as he feels a little excited. "Did you learn very much?" His tone is enticing, and I squeak in surprise when I'm suddenly in his lap and he's sitting in the chair beneath me.

"Farlig." I say, poking him I'm the chest, and he grins. "Kraftfull. Lekfull. Vacker. Älskare."

"Did you only find pretty words?" He smiles again, and I give him a look of fake outrage.

"I only had a couple hours, give me a break. I'm sure it would be easier if you taught me." Nodding, he gives me a kiss, and looks over at Godric.

"Where will you be staying?"

"I purchased a house, and my day man should have already relocated my necessities. You two are free to go."

Looking towards the door, Eric summons Pam and she appears a second later. "Did you do what I told you?" She nods, and takes the chair as Eric stands up with me in his arms.

"We have somewhere to go, before we go home?" I ask, and he just smirks, feeling a great deal of anticipation as we are suddenly outside. Being held bridal style, it's not nearly as scary as Eric floats us over buildings and streets.

He stops us outside a department store building, and he sets me on my feet before taking my hand and guiding me straight back through the clothes store and up to the top floor. When the elevator doors open, we step out onto a lush carpet and into a jeweler's office. Glass box display stands are everywhere, long display counters wrapping around the room on three sides.

"I have selected a ring for you, and while I guessed the size, I think it will fit well." I'm surprised, and look up at as he feels it through the bond.

"When did you have time for this?"

"Do you think I just play games on my phone all of the time?" His smirk is trademark, and I just start looking through a case of necklaces while he goes to talk to a woman at the register. A bracelet in the next case over catches my eye, and it looks like exactly something that Pam would wear.

"See something you like?" Eric appears at my side, looking into the glass case.

"Not me, but if you wanted to treat her, Pam would like that bracelet." He barely gives it a glance before he looks at the sales woman.

"I'll also take the gold and red diamonds bracelet." The lady nods as she walks behind the glass cases along the wall, pulling it out and setting it into a nice box before taking the tag and handing the box to him in a bag. A man comes out from a door by the register, and Eric turns to him as he gives me a smile and takes my hand to lead me next to him. The gentleman is wearing a nice vest with a tie and when he holds up a box, he's wearing pristine white gloves.

"Just as you ordered, Mr. Northman." Eric takes the box, opening it up and taking my hand as he slides a ring on my finger. I examine a large white diamond set in a cradle of what looks like a web of golden spider threads, with a smaller ruby on either side over the gold band.

It fits just right, and I stroke the bond lovingly. "precis rätt."

His grin is endearing, "Pretty words indeed." He mutters, and mindlessly hands over a black card to the woman that has reappeared behind the register before giving me a long kiss. A signature lands on the receipt without him even looking, and I smile as he pulls back and takes the bag with the box from her hand. His hand works over his cell phone for a second as he feels oddly devious, and he looks at me as he slips it in his pocket and takes my hand. "Would you like to shop for some clothes, or look at more jewelry? I asked Pam to bring a car to pick us up. We'll give her the bracelet, and then she'll return to Fangtasia while we go to get you some groceries down the street with the car. My home is not a far drive."

It's practically no time before Pam shows up, and Eric had talked me into a necklace. "Sookie picked this out for you." Eric says, putting the bag into her hand, and an instant later she is inspecting what was inside the box as she's torn it open with vampire speed.

"Hmm... I'm impressed. It would seem you have a sense of fashion after all. Dear Abby suggests that when you receive a gift you like, you reciprocate with your own token. What would you like?" Not really sure, I thank for a second before asking her for a piece of paper. Writing down what I have in mind, she reads the paper before securing it in her pocket away from Eric and giving me a sly grin before vanishing.

"Pamela is certainly taking a liking to you." Eric chuckles, and we only drive a block before pulling into a grocery store.

"Can you hand me that?" He's quick to pluck the box from the top shelf, and I grin widely as he hands it to me.

"What?" He asks, not understanding my amusement.

"Usually, when I go shopping, I can't reach when I want things on the top shelf. You make this much easier with the quiet as well." I've kept my mind focused on his void the whole time, not delving deeper to hear his thoughts as I just let his quiet remain as such so that I can avoid the thoughts of the people around us.

"I'm pleased to be of assistance." He grins, following me dutifully as we go up and down the aisles.

"Are these things good for you?" His question catches me off guard, and I look to see him examining one of the TV dinners that I had put in the cart.

"Not really, but they're edible. I don't always feel like taking the time to prepare a meal, so these are nice and easy." He seems to be considering something, and finally gives me a look.

"You should contact Lafayette, as I have a job for him. There is a guest house on my property, and he could live there if wishes to work as our chef. He will be given a monthly allowance to spend on whatever he wants, as well as full medical insurance for himself and his immediate family." When he says the last part, I know he wouldn't tell me this random detail without reason, and I remember my friend's mother who needs constant care.


	4. Chapter 4

"Eric…" I can't finish whatever I want to say, as I don't have words for what he's doing. The look I give him seems to convey it though, and he strokes the bond as he pulls me against him for a kiss, before turning my attention back to what to buy. Since Lafayette will most definitely jump at this opportunity, I go through some of the aisles a second time, picking up things that to further stock the kitchen he's going to be working in. "Do you have dishes, like pots and pans?" I ask, and he gives me a long look before his face hardens and he frowns slightly. I laugh a little, patting his arm. "It's okay, I can't expect you to remember every little thing. They sell cookware here as well, so we'll get the groceries then come back in for that stuff."

He nods, and when all of the food is collected, he brings me another empty cart before taking the full food cart and leaving me with the empty one in the cookware aisle. Turning the corner, he goes to check out and get the food in the car, while I start to browse the sets and displays of dishes. Picking carefully, I know that Eric won't be happy if I get cheap stuff, so I swallow my pride and pick out the top things they have. I'm at the end of the aisle, looking at a special display, when I reach to pick up a cast iron pot from the bottom shelf. Hissing, I drop the heavy metal pan as it burns my hand, and I berate myself as I remember what Godric had said. Eric appears a second later, grabbing my hand gently and inspecting the burn mark before I tell him about the iron. "Can you grab these since Lafayette will be the one using them, and I'll go clean this off in the bathroom? I'll meet you at checkout."

Indicating a few different sized pans to him, I walk away as he arranges them amongst the boxes and other items in the cart, and find a bathroom nearby in the corner of the store. Doing my best not to wince, I clean the mottled skin, wrapping it in a twist of paper towels before going and finding Eric at check out. The latest purchase is stowed in the Escalade before I can get half way there, and he's already put the cart away when he opens the car door for me. I step up in, using my uninjured hand to hold Eric's hand and steady myself. He's in the driver seat an instant later, my door closed, and we are soon on the road. I can feel it as he keeps looking at my hands held together in my lap as he's sort of holding the bond in his mental hands, keeping a constant tab on me as he makes sure to feel any pain that I do. There's a slight bump when he turns onto a paved driveway leading up into a series of hills, and it jostles me in my seat, making me cringe as my hand clenches on reflex.

His growl surprises me, and I look at him, but he already feels sorry in the bond and I realize that he's been berating himself. "I blame myself for not being there to stop it from happening." He finally admits as we pull up to a large brick house, and I don't have a chance to comment as we've pulled into the attached garage and he gets out. Opening the back doors first, he's then at my side, and I jump into his arms surprising him as he opens my door. Locking my legs around his waist, I hold my arms awkwardly around his neck and kiss him as he gets his bearings and puts his arms around my back to hold me. A new growl comes from him, this one different, more soft and alluring than angry.

"Never blame yourself. It's not your fault that I'm a trouble magnet." He thinks over what I say, sighing finally before he gives me another kiss and sets me down at the same time.

"It is illogical for me to blame myself, I know that, but I still do so when you are hurt. Try to avoid stubbing your toe."

I roll my eyes as his teasing yet serious tone, and he opens the door into the house to let me into a very modern looking kitchen. "Go look around, and I'll get these things. Don't go upstairs." He's walking away before I can protest. There are dark oak cabinets with light grey marble countertops and surprisingly, sky lights above the island in the center of the large square space. The appliances are all chrome, shining as they look to have never been used, which is probably true. I look through the house, at least poking my head in each room as Eric brings things in to the dining room table and kitchen island. It's all decorated with generic themes, the things there but not the heart as none of it really seems to fit Eric which leads me to conclude that he had a decorator pick everything out. I find the tall double doors in the living room that have a wide staircase going up, and while I look up to see the plain white doors at the top, I don't go just as he asked.

When I get back to the kitchen, I see that he's already put all of the pots and pans away and is now staring at a jar of coffee. Looking around, I start directing him on where to put things, and he is happy to oblige as he puts things away faster than I direct him. Disposing of the plastic bags and a few boxes in the garage, he returns, and takes me against his chest suddenly we're sprawled across the couch in the living room. "So I didn't find your coffin when I was looking around." I say just as he starts to kiss my neck, and he ends up leaning back laughing.

"My resting place is hidden, of course, and I assure you there is no coffin." He chuckles, and I reach up without thought, wincing as my injured hand touches his shoulder. It's in his grip a second later, and then he's biting into the palm of the hand not holding mine with his fangs down before offering me the cleanly broken skin. "I do not like it when you are injured." His voice is calm, but I can feel how hard it is for him to say it, and my feelings for him swell up as I hold his wrist in my uninjured hand.

Drinking from him only lasts a few seconds as he quickly heals and his other digits play with my hair as I stare down at my hand in his. The burn seems to just fade away several seconds later, and it looks like nothing ever happened. "Just _your_ resting place?" I ask, going back to what he said before, and he grins.

Shaking his head, he holds me completely in his lap, and I get a terribly mean idea as I sit up to straddle him. "Ours." He says with a wide grin, his face turning serious as my hand rubs down his chest, going slowly towards his pants. Pushing my chest almost against his, I lean in to kiss his neck, and he puts his hands on my hips. His loud sudden growl is unarguably sexy as my fingers hit his belt, and I'm tempted to take it further for just a second but I stick to my plan and quickly divert my hand to his pocket as I pull out his cell phone.

"I'm going to call Lafayette now." I say, purposely looking too innocent as I pull back slightly, and he stares at me as I dial the number. I act unknowing to what Eric is feeling, but I am aware of the lust that I have stirred up in him through the bond, and he's also in slight disbelief that I would tease him so brazenly. Not that it didn't excite him, since he finds he likes it when I tease him, which is something he doesn't seem to enjoy very much when it's coming from anyone else. Now there's an idea, and I listen to the phone ring as I absent mindedly start running my fingers over one of his biceps.

"Hey, whatever you thinks I did, I didn't do." Lafayette answers, and I chuckle slightly.

"It's me, and it's not what you did, it's what I did. I've got a job for you. Private chef, you can move out of that broken down trailer and into a nice guest house, and you'll be getting a bunch of benefits. It's in Shreveport, are you interested?"

"Hell yeah, where do I go to get started?" I hand the phone to Eric, and he starts going over details as I take my hand and play across his chest with it. Turning sideways, I put my back to the back of the couch and sit sideways across his lap, my legs hanging over the floor for a second before I bounce to stand up. Moving around the room, I can feel Eric's eyes on me as it seems that I'm inspecting the décor, starting out innocently enough as I look at the paintings on the walls. When I walk further down, there's an antique wooden chest sitting in the corner next a pile of boxes from my house, and I bend over as I appear to look at the carved pattern in the wooden cehst. Wiggling my rear in the air for a long moment, I then straighten and move on, starting to go around the room slowly and carefully as Eric continues the call. He's talking in monotone as his eyes don't leave me, and I get a thrill as I feel his lust and desire ramping up in the bond.

I take special care not to look at him, acting as though he's not there as I've moved more than half way around the room, and he finally seems to be concluding the call. Stepping out of his line of sight because of the way he's sitting on the couch, it's only a second later when I'm suddenly pinned to a bare space of wall.

My legs go to either side of his hips as I hold myself up against him, meeting his lips to mine as he growls, his fang cutting my lip slightly when I use more force than I should. He licks the small cut, and there's a stormy look in his eyes as his eyes burn into mine. "You are very tempting. One might say it was on purpose."

"Little old me? Heavens no. I'm just a silly little girl clueless and playing with big bad vampires." I say, the line having occurred to me during some down time in one of the recent days, and I bite gently on his neck in several places as I kiss his skin and run my hands through his hair.

"You are a tease, little wanton fae." He breathes in my ear, and I chuckle against him, making him groan when I suddenly rub down against the bulge in his pants a moment later.

"You are very tempting, big bad vampire. When I'm with you, I don't feel like I need to withhold myself or strain to have the proper ladylike mannerisms that I should."

"Good." He says, pushing my head against the wall to clamp down on my neck with blunt teeth before kissing and sucking the same spot repeatedly. "I don't want you to ever put on an act or hold yourself back from me, you aren't aloud, you are mine."

"You'll have to keep me forever." I whisper, and his fangs drop, the edges scraping my skin when he speaks a little too close.

"Another good thing, because I wasn't planning on ever letting you go." He bites, his incisors sliding deep, the blood pooling into his mouth several times as I can't help but to moan, arching my back and chest against him from the wall.

"You make me feel undone… and I like it. I don't ever want to be away from you." Pulling his hair slightly harder than I should elicits a deep growl, and I chuckle as he licks the marks on my neck to stop bleeding. "Playing with you makes me feel powerful, like I'm playing with a dangerous wild animal." I confide to him, and he grins, leaning back as he bares his fang to me.

"You are doing just that, lover, but this beast has already been tamed by you. You're the only one who can play without getting hurt… in a bad way." He says, going quiet as I run a finger down the side of his fang, staring at it transfixed until I run my finger over the tip gently. I'm surprised when a line of red wells up across my skin, and my finger falls into the valley between the razor sharp fangs as he sucks the bleeding digit into his mouth. Cleaning it with his tongue, I don't miss when his tongue swipes his own fang, and my finger emerges healed. "Be careful of those, they cut quite well." His tone is light, and I chuckle, kissing him on his fangs causing him to give me a fierce look while he seems to shiver. "Any other person would already be eviscerated for having the audacity to do a fraction of the things you've done." He informs me, and the words aren't threatening in the least as I run a hand down his chest to pull up the edge of his shirt. Feeling my way up his skin, muscles twitching and tensing as I pass over them, I get to almost the base of his throat before running my nails sharply down the left side.

His growl his sharp, and he grabs my hand, pinning it above my head as he locks his mouth against my neck again. "Bold little vixen." He rumbles, and I shiver at the feel of his chest vibrating against me.

"Only for you." I breathe, and he seems to sense that I am done playing. "I'm yours." Whispering, I start kissing the side of his head as he bites down again, and I whimper a pleased sound into his ear when he pulls hard for a second. "Show me I'm yours?" My request seems to strike a chord, and he presses me against the wall with his frame as his hands seem to suddenly be everywhere at once, pulling, twisting and teasing every bit of sensitive skin he can reach.

I gasp, clutching his shoulders and moaning as he continues to tease my body while he drinks from my neck, as though his feeding weren't enjoyable enough for me. "You are mine, fae." He intones, healing the marks, his voice sounding as though it's a threat to some unseen force. I sigh in contentment and pleasure as he kisses up my jaw, his hips flexing into me and making me shudder as I notice a gleam in his eyes.

"You'll just have to prove it in the long run." He doesn't protest, and gives me his undivided attention as he shows me how to get into the hidden underground level of the house and carries me down the stairs through another light tight door into his liar.

"Hmm… no coffin. I suppose you weren't lying then." I chuckle, and he smiles in amusement before kissing me to distraction for a second. In the center of the far wall is the biggest bed I've ever seen, having to have been custom made I conclude, and he's suddenly pressing me into the mattress as he takes my breath away.

When I rise the next day, I stretch against the still Viking next to me, and find that I'm not even sore. "You're a miracle." I whisper, kissing his lips, chin, neck, shoulder and finally I plant a kiss over where his heart should be before I go and take a long steaming shower. Clothes have already been put into one of the dressers and half the closet for me, which I'm sure Pam took care of, and I double check the sleeping space is locked tight once I get upstairs. The previous night won't stop replaying in my head as I make a quick breakfast despite it being past lunch time, and then I go to work sorting through the boxes of my things. A lot of it ends up in Eric's attic space, while random knickknacks and photos end up around the house added to shelves and tables. I had the furniture left there on purpose, since I knew Arlene would appreciate new things, or at least things that were new to her.

Getting the book that Niall gave me in Dallas and skim through it for a couple of hours before setting it down and I start looking into the house more. I make small changes, such as finding curtains in a closet that I like better for the living room, and pulling out a few brand new rugs that were rolled up in the attic. Going through a set of French glass doors in the back of the kitchen, I find a pool outside that Eric hadn't even mentioned as well as a pool house, guest house and storage shed. The three car garage and main house hid everything behind it when we pulled in the night before.

I'm about to take a box of the clothes downstairs, the few I kept after I purged my closet and dresser of the things I didn't want anymore, when I feel a mind coming up the driveway. With the money I would be receiving from Dallas, I had planned to buy a new wardrobe, but that didn't seem to be needed now as Eric had provided plenty of clothes for me. Stashing the box by the bed, I give him another kiss before I seal the room back up and go open the front door just as Lafayette is coming up the porch steps. "What you's doin' here?" He asks, dressed as flamboyant as usual with a load of boxes and bags in the back of his old car.

"Surprise!" I tell him, giving him a hug and leading him inside to the kitchen. "You're working for me."

"And how is it that miss former waitress can afford all these shiny things?" He asks, looking at the appliances.

"I bonded to Eric." I say, holding up my hand with the ring on it, and he grabs my hand in disbelief.

"You is shittin' me." He mumbles, whistling as he looks at the gold and stones. "Sure 'bout this?" He asks, and I grin.

"I can feel his emotions, so yeah, I'm sure."

"Damn. You in deep. Wait…" He looks around again, seeming to understand something. "This is his house?"

"Yeah, he's asleep in our bedroom." His expression is dumbfounded and almost fearful for a second.

"Holy shit… you really are in deep. How'd you manage this in less than a week? You just left to go away on your 'business trip' six days ago."

"Once I got alone with Eric, I realized that he was what I wanted. I'm tired of holding myself to some imaginary standard, and when I decided about Eric, I took what I wanted."

"Good on you girl, growin' some balls for yourself."

After talking for a while, we work together to take his stuff to the guest house, and I'm relieved to see that it's already furnished. "You can leave it like this or change it however you want."

"I might keep this fancy get up for a little while." His grin makes me laugh, and we're back in my kitchen soon as he is looking in the fridge and I remember something. Leaving him to explore, I run up to the attic and pull out the worn book from the box labeled 'Kitchen Stuff'. It was mostly towels, aprons and other baubles as I'd left my pots and pans for Arlene to make use of. We'd had lunch one day while the kids were in school, and I'd seen the poor state her dishes and kitchen wares were in, so I'd been debating whether or not to leave my things behind. Buying all new things with Eric had been a good compromise, and I was sure Arlene would be glad when she seen the dishes added to her supply. Eric had told me that he was going to have a dish washer installed, and I could just imagine what her reaction would be when she found that out.

Returning to the kitchen, I set the worn book on the table, and he eyes it as he gives me an unsure look. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yup. This is Gran's book, the one she wrote the family recipes in. You can use it if you want, just please be careful not to hurt it."

"Girl, this is gonna be my kitchen bible." He laughs, picking it up carefully and fingering through the pages. "Oh honey her pecan pie is in here. We're gonna end up fatter than Mrs. Fortenberry." We both bust out laughing at the mention of the vile woman, and I feel Eric come to life in the bond as he feels for me immediately. I do my best to ignore his enticing strokes on my emotions, and Lafayette starts putting together a shopping list on a pad of paper he found in a drawer. "What's with you?" He asks, noticing my faraway look as he's checking the cupboards.

"Eric's awake."

"Damn, and it's 'bout another hour and a half before sunset. You got you one strong vampire, make sure to talk me up real nice. He said that the medical I'm gonna get will cover the care for my crazy ass momma, and I don't have no reason to sell shit now. Thing's like that's why I don't mind workin' for him sometimes."

"It probably helps that he knows I appreciate him trusting you with this. With the bond, he can feel everything I do, and he will react to my emotions. So usually when I'm happy, he's happy." I chuckle, and he grins.

"Shit, we both be happy if things keep goin' like this." He looks me in the eye for a second, in a rare serious moment. "Seriously, thank you. You need something that I can help you with, you just ask, I got you."

"Thank Laf."

"Oh and if Mr. Viking Badass can hear me, you best watch out for Sam. He thinks you's got Sooks completely brain washed." He calls out, and I chuckle, despite hearing what he said.

I'd sort of expected this, since there had still been a sense of doubt in his thoughts when I last seen him, and I just hope that if I avoid him long enough it won't be a problem. A loud whirring sound interrupts my thoughts and I watch as metal blinds built into all of the windows seem to seal out every little ray of light, bringing a darkness to the room as the skylights had previously been plenty. Lafayette doesn't move as I go to the light switch, and he jumps when Eric is suddenly holding me from behind and kissing my neck at the same time that the lights turn on.

"You is a scary motherfucker." He says, waving a finger towards Eric with a flourish.

Eric chuckles against my neck before standing straight and looking at Lafayette over my head as he holds me back against his chest. I relax against him, and he purrs silently behind me.

"Although she don't look scared at all." His comment comes with a grin, and he turns away to look through some drawers as Eric glares at him.

"Don't worry sweetie, you're very intimidating." He gives me a kiss, ignoring the slightly mocking tone of my voice.

Thinking for a second, he raises an eyebrow as he feels my resolve forming. "I need to show you something." I whisper, and look pointedly at Lafayette. Silently asking for him to forgive me, I grab onto his mind, and let my voice resonate as I command him. "Start making fried chicken and the fixin's for dinner." Looking up at Eric, I watch him as he watches Lafayette, feeling oddly proud as he sees that my friend can't control what he's doing. I release his mind, and he doesn't stop, getting things out as he starts singing a song in his head to himself like he did when he worked in the kitchen at Merlotte's. "That guy last night thought I was too drunk to fight him, and wanted to force me to have sex with him. So I thought it would be better to just let him give himself over to you." I can't fight the smile, and he looks at me with a hint of outrage as he grins wickedly.

"I'm going to have to get you back for that." The kiss he gives me is searing, and he holds me up as he makes me weak in the knees.

"You two so sweet I'm gon' throw up." Layette mutters, placing a pan on the stove as he turns the burner on.

"So what's upstairs?" I ask, and he grins widely as I just remembered that I haven't seen that yet.

Taking me to the living room, his demeanor softens as he looks at me lovingly. "I've never used it, and I must confess that I only just bought this house a month ago. The upstairs is a green house, and a large siting balcony. Why don't you go take a look, since I can't until the sun sets."

Going up, the door swings open freely, and I close it quickly behind as the sunlight blinds me for a second. The glass room is lined with several rows of tables, and stacked beneath several is more pots than I would have expected, as well as bags of soil and a box of what looks like seeds. A far door leads out onto a patio with a small glass table and a couple of chairs. The patio looks over the back yard, and I notice a hose conveniently located by the door of the greenhouse. When I return to the living room, Eric appears out of nowhere as he embraces me, and I grin as I give him a kiss. "I love it. It's perfect."

"I am glad." He runs his hand down my hair, and I ask him to wait on the couch before I go and get the book that Niall gave me.

Handing it to him, he looks perplexed as he tries to read the text. "This is gibberish." He says, and I'm surprised.

"What are you talking about?" I look over his hands as he holds it. "It's perfect English."

"It must be enchanted, or only available for a fae to understand." He says, handing it back, and I flip to a certain page.

"Well I wanted to try something, and I wanted you to just… spot me? I don't know, just catch me if I fall or anything?"

"What are you trying to do?" He asks, slightly worried, and I send him reassurance.

"Nothing big, just a minor thing my light should be able to do if I'm correct. Just keep an eye on me while I try this.

He stands over me, watching as I sit down on the couch, lying the book on the table in front of me before I glance over the page to refresh my memory.

According to the page, our light is able to change us physically if we wish it, some fae taking on the attributes of wolves, lions and other animals. It's not just limited to animal features, and I do my best to grasp at my light and direct it into my jaw as I command the power to change particular teeth. The image of Eric's fangs come to mind, the flawless fit to his mouth when they are down, and my hand comes to my face as I hold my jaw. It's not painful, but incredibly uncomfortable as I sort of feel them growing and changing, and I hear Eric growling from in front of me. His emotions are partially blocked from mine, but he is not happy with what he's feeling from me, and I instinctively relax as I feel him taking me into his arms.

The intense discomfort fades away in a matter of seconds, and I somehow know how to do so as I click my fangs up and down. They are silent, and I feel them over with my tongue as I open my eyes and look up at his throat.

Stretching up, I start kissing across his throat, and his growl softens as his grip on me tightens. "What just happened?" He demands gently, and I chuckle, sitting facing him in his lap as I wrap my arms around his chest and bite down forcefully on his neck.

He hisses, his arms clenching tightly around me as my fangs easily slide in. The sensation is like nothing I've ever felt before, unexplainably pleasurable before I pull them free and suck gently on the holes I've made in his flesh. "Fae can do this thing with their light where they can grow things like wolf ears and tails, and change their body into different forms. So I grew fangs, just like yours." I murmur slowly, licking at the wound on his neck as it slowly heals, his blood seeming to buzz around inside me as I take it in.

"You are incredible." He moans, having enjoyed getting bitten, and I grin as I stretch up and kiss him. His fangs clash with mine, and he suddenly pulls back as he gently grips my chin in one hand. His thumb feels my fangs as he opens my mouth and looks at them. "Absolutely incredible."

My eyes widen as a pleased sounding growl comes from my throat, and he purrs as well, giving me a kiss.

His phone rings, making him seethe for a second, and he pulls away reluctantly as he flips it out. I haven't heard this ringtone before, and he scowls as he goes to answer. "Please do not speak." He says, hitting the answer button.

"Northman." A shrill woman's voice comes through the speaker phone.

"Yes, your majesty?" His voice is perfectly even.

"I had to rescue Compton from that demented maker of his, and when he returned to his residence this night, he found that his human was missing. According to her employer, she quit her job and then was spirited away by you to Texas. What do you have to say?"

"My apologies my queen, but I have only been in the company of my bonded. I do not know of any human that belongs to Compton being in my presence at any recent point."

"Bonded? When did you announce that?" She demands, sounding intrigued at the same time.

"I have yet to do so, as it only just happened in the last few days. The paperwork was already sent to the authority, through my own contacts, as my bonded is not fully human and is not subject to your rule."

"What the hell are you talking about?" It sounds like there is a crash in the background.

"If you have any questions my queen, I have been advised to tell you to contact the authority for an explanation." He hangs up the phone, and gives me a sly grin.

"I'll bet you a million dollars that she's going ballistic right now." I say without thought, and he arches an eyebrow.

"I'll have to write you a check."

"I will burn it, right in front of you." I threaten, and he laughs, his eyes repeatedly falling to my mouth as he strives to catch glimpses of my fangs. "Although I will take the one for my money in Dallas, since I earned that."

"We will go to Fangtasia after you eat." He says, and I stand from his lap as he follows me to the kitchen.

"Almost ready." Lafayette says, and we sit at the bar while he pulls out plates and glasses.

The chicken is exactly like Gran used to fix, and the mashed potatoes with gravy, corn and carrots are all perfectly cooked. Eric plays with my hair, silent as Lafayette slowly relaxes in his presence. His eyes flick to the vampire occasionally, but he no longer seems hyper aware of his every move.

"Sookie likes you." Eric says suddenly when there is a lull in our conversation. "I find you tolerable, and as long as you do not slight my bonded, your time with us will be enjoyable." He disappears for a second, before reappearing and handing Lafayette a garage door opener, a cell phone and a set of keys. "Use the spot on the end. These keys open that door and the front door, as well as those French doors. All doors are to be locked if we are not home, even if you are inside, as the security system will know if someone forces entry and I will receive a text message. The phone has unlimited use on all of North and South America."

Lafayette pockets the things he's been given, and starts gathering our empty plates to rinse and put in the dish washer.

"I would also ask that you use more appropriate attire when I tell you we are having company. Can you make party things if I tell you how many humans are in attendance?"

"Yeah, I done some catering before." The dish washer comes silently to life as he answers a few more questions for Eric, who looks to me when he is done.

"If you would like to do anything before we go, I would like to take you somewhere before Fangtasia." He stays put as I run down to our bedroom, changing my clothes and using the bathroom mirror to get my hair into submission with an elastic tie.

When I return to the kitchen, Lafayette is gone and I look at Eric questioningly. "He informed me that he did not have much of the way of, 'rich boy clothes', as he put it. I gave him gas money and sent him to a tailor to get measured and fitted into a set of suits on my tab. The debit card for his allowance should be on my desk by now, so he shall stop there when he is done to get it and I expect he will go waste a fair amount of money before he returns home."

"Wow, you know him pretty well already."

"Yes, and I already informed him of you being fae. He agreed to it and let me glamour him so that he can't accidentally mention it, so you are saved that odd conversation. He is accepting, and did not seem to care." I stare up at him for a second, unsure of how to respond to that before I decide to take it in the way I'm sure he intended.

"Thank you. Where are we going?" I ask, and he just grins, picking me up bridal style as we go out the front door and he locks it behind us.

When we take off, he goes faster than I like, and I hide my face in his chest until we soon stop. "A car lot? Really?" I ask, giving him an exasperated look as he walks me to a sleek sports car.

"I think you'll like it." It's in a sparkly black color, and I know that as soon as Jason sees it he will be drooling.

He's encouraging as we drive back to Fangtasia, giving me helpful advice as I get used to driving the powerful engine. I'm just starting to enjoy it when we pull into the parking lot. The fangbangers are on the edge of the heels, shocked to see Eric getting out of the passenger seat of the car and then pulling open my door to take my hand as I stand up from the driver seat. Locking the doors, I pocket the keys and we head to the doors.

Pam follows us up to the throne, putting another random vampire in place of guarding the door while she's gone. "What's the news?" She asks with a twisted smile.

"I believe the queen may show up tonight, and if so, I will give you the signal the get the humans out as I announce to the area vampires my bonding. I want to do so tonight anyway, so call the loyal vampires to all be here and waiting within the hour until I decide to proceed with the announcement."

She nods, not commenting as she goes back to the door, continuing to admit and deny people slowly. Eric sets with me on his lap for a while and I lean against his chest as I see Godric enter a short time later. He's quickly filled in, before he goes to sit at a table, and I join him after giving Eric a strong kiss. Thalia brings me a drink without me asking, and I thank her as I pull my book from my pocket and let it get bigger as I start reading through it, occasionally taking a drink or looking at Eric. Vampires start coming in the main door, and some of the humans start to wonder if something is going on as they notice the unusually high number of vampires present. I find one particularly interesting piece of information, and take several minutes to memorize it before skipping a few pages to pick up other tidbits.

A short time later there seems to be a commotion as a woman in a red gown enters, walking straight up to the stage as Eric seems to send an emotion to Pam. "Your majesty. You are just in time. Is everything ready Pamela?" Eric asks, and the blond vampire nods, humans being told to leave as the vampires arrange themselves in a rough room wide circle around the stage.

"Northman? What is going on here?" She demands, looking at the bar as bottles of blood are being handed out freely.

"I am announcing my bonding tonight." His words are clear in the room, now that the music has been stopped and the chattering humans have left. I'm one of few left as the queen looks over to me for the first time. She glances at Godric as well, but doesn't seem to recognize him as she doesn't react and seemingly writes him off in her head.

I stand, intending to go be next to Eric, and I'm suddenly being blocked by Godric who has twisted his arm around to hold me behind him. Looking around, it seems that she sent a guard of hers to grab me as Godric has his other hand against the vampire's chest, stopping him.

"You will not touch this one." His voice is different from what I'm used to. Godric's demeanor is also different, a dark look on his face as his tone conveys nothing but authority and age, and I feel that if I didn't know him I would be afraid.

"Who are you?" Sophie Anne asks, and Eric speaks up.

"My maker is a resident of my area. The paperwork was filed with your office when we returned from Dallas."

"Godric?" She says, looking back at him from Eric with a new look in her eyes. "So you approve of your child bonding to that human?"

"She is not human, as we already said. If you contacted the authority as you were told to do, then you were given the information you are privileged to have." Godric's voice is deeper than I remember, carrying a weight as he speaks down to her. His hand finds my shoulder, pulling me up next to his side, and he keeps me between him and the wall as he guides me up to the stage. We both stand beside Eric, who stares the queen down as he acts as though she hadn't just tried to send her guard after me. I'm between the two vampires, both of them older than the queen, and she looks unhappy when I put my arm around Eric's back to lean into his side slightly. His arm falls over my shoulders, almost brushing his makers arm on my other side, and I see that many of the vampires Pam summoned are looking me over with interest. I move my hand, placing it on Godric's shoulder in a friendly gesture, and I'm relieved when he doesn't seem to mind. A murmur passes through the vampires who are now stunned, blatantly wondering who I am, and I look up at Eric as he feels my intent.

At his nod, I open my mouth, and speak the command. Godric blinks a few times, looking around the room as everything is frozen. "This lasts sixty seconds. My book says that if I reveal myself as Sookie Brigant to the supernatural world, I can claim you as mine since you are my bonded, and it would make you immune to her rule as well as Pam and Godric by extension."

"Are you sure?" Godric asks, cutting Eric off as he tries to say something, and I nod looking at him.

"For sure, but do you mind me announcing myself like that?" I ask Eric, and he gives me a smile.

"I'm sure that you will do what you believe is the right thing to achieve your own goals. I will follow along, whatever your choice is."

"It would seem he's getting smarter." Godric comments, and I laugh, giving Eric an appreciative kiss as I turn back the way I was before releasing the magic necessary. I'm certain that Eric is already planning for every eventuality anyway.

"Would you like to start?" I ask him, ignoring the look of the queen when I speak and he nods, looking to address the vampires summoned to be here.

"You are all here so that I may announce my bonding. I have claimed this one." He looks down at me, and I smile, looking around the room slightly nervously as I try to keep my voice calm.

"I am Sookie Brigant, now Sookie Brigant Northman." Eric's arm around me tenses, and I fight the smile that threatens to break out as he hears me say this for the first time and washes me in his feelings of love and happiness.


	5. Chapter 5

"My grandfather is Niall Brigant, ruler of the fae, and I am the… princess." The word sort of sticks to my tongue, and Sophie Anne is staring at me with something akin to outrage as she processes this.

"As a resident of my kingdom, your highness, I will be moving you to my estate immediately for your protection." She says suddenly, cutting me off before I can continue with whatever I can come up with next.

Something about her tone rubs me the wrong me, and I look at her sharply as I feel as though I'm scolding her with a hard voice. "No thank you, and you will let me finish." Her mouth snaps shut, and the guards look at me uncertainly as they can't believe she listened, making me wonder if my control ability didn't affect her somehow. "He is mine." I say, looking at Eric for a second who is now grinning madly. "I claim him as belonging to the royal fae family, as well as his bloodline, which means Godric and Pam. You no longer have any say over what we do or where we go." The vampire standing closest to Sophie Anne is looking at me with hatred in his eyes, and he looks at the woman in her red dress.

"This is nonsense." He says loudly, turning to Eric. "We are taking her, and you are no longer Sheriff."

"Andre, shut up." The queen says calmly, but he doesn't listen, his arrogance seeming to be too much as he charges towards me. Before anyone can do anything, Andre is suddenly shot across the room by a blast of light and seems to be stunned as he hits the wall and falls to the floor.

"You dare to try and touch my granddaughter, especially after she just declared herself? I could end you, if I didn't want to fill out all of the terrible paperwork." Niall appears, walking out from the hallway he passes the bar and joins us on stage. "I am Niall Brigant." His statement hangs in the air, and Sophie Anne is stunned into silence as she just stares, her eyes not leaving the fairy as he moves around.

"Sookie, I am here to deliver to you a reasonable dowry from our vaults. I took the liberty of having it converted into American dollars for you." He doesn't hesitate to approach Eric and Godric, and I pull free of Eric's hold to give him a quick hug before he hands me a check. I stop breathing for a second as my eyes are round as saucers, staring him in the eye a second later as he grins. "No, I will not take it back." Reaching his hand out, I'm surprised when Eric shakes it. "I trust you to keep good care of her."

Eric nods, and Niall looks back at me. "I'll come bring you more books soon, so that you might learn more." He glances back at my bonded. "I'm going to leave my email on your desk. Send me the address to your home." A pop sounds through the room, and he's gone, leaving me standing there to stare at the impossible check in my hand. I didn't think I'd ever see so many zeros with my name on them.

"I don't want to lose this." I say, slightly shaky when I hand the paper to Eric as I return to his side, and he chuckles before he secures it into his pocket.

"Your majesty?" Pam says, walking towards her as the guard's eye Eric's child skeptically. "The authority has called for you." She holds a phone out, and the queen snatches it, putting it to her ear.

"This is she… yes, and… well yes, but… no… I understand… of course… no problem, I understand…" She hangs up, growling at Eric before signing in a frustrated manner and stomping childishly out of the club. The guards follow her quickly, one of them dragging Andre, and Pam closes the door behind them.

"Well she's lovely." I mutter, and I see several vampires in the room smile as well as Eric whose feeling amused.

"Chancellor Gainesborough has quite a way with words." Godric says, and I know it must be who was on the phone.

"Yes she does." Eric mutters, and I feel through him that he is both annoyed, but cares a little for the person.

"Who is she?" I ask, and he sighs.

"My annoying younger sister." He says with distaste.

"My youngest child is Nora Gainesborough." Godric says, giving the answer before I have a chance to ask the question. "I made her in the sixteen sixties in England, at Eric's request. He felt the same towards her that he felt towards Pam, but I did not feel he was ready and would not allow him to turn her himself. She was already dying from a human disease before I turned her, and she works within the authority now."

"Do you get along with your little sister?" I ask, grinning up at him.

"She is useful, but I am not nearly as enamored with her as I once was."

"So what did she say? I don't have your hearing." I remind him, and he chuckles.

"Basically what you said stands. Not even the authority can order you or us, only make requests which we are free to deny. Nora also called her out on all of her bullshit since she must have a spy in the queen's court."

"Don't you just love politics?" Godric says sarcastically, and Eric stares at him shocked as he hears the joke come from his maker.

"You are all free to go. Pam, let the humans back in." Eric announces and takes my hand, pulling me to sit on his lap as he settles into his throne. Godric disappears somewhere, and I close my eyes to focus on eavesdropping on people as they come in, Eric's hand playing with my hair. The thoughts of the people are mundane, the same things over and over again, until the bar is about half full and a man in odd clothes walks in. He sticks out a little in a navy blue shirt and jeans.

 _Just need to name the right price._ The thought is repeated over and over again, a mindless chant as he looks around the room and tries to tell who is and isn't a vampire. There's something about him, I don't know what it is, but I feel like I recognize him somehow. I continue just looking him over, when suddenly an image flashes in his mind, and I see his plan. He wants to find a vampire to turn him, he wants to pay them to do so, and I delve deeper as I look for the reason behind that desire. Images start flashing through his mind, and I can't stop them as I'm drowned in the torrent of experiences. My own tormenter comes to the forefront and suddenly I'm a little girl again. The sickening fear ratchets through me causing Eric to hold me tightly to his chest, a growl rolling out that makes many of the human's second guess being near the stage. A new source of tension enters the room, and I see Godric appear by the bar having come from the hallway to the office, his body tense as his eyes bore into us. The energy coming from him triggers something in me, and I break from staring at the human man who is just like Bartlett, to see the vampire that made mine.

Staring at him in this state, I ready do see him, the reason that I had heard him referred to as _Death_ by several of the humans in the nest in Dallas is quite clear. Something inside seems to react to seeing him like this, and my telepathy goes out of my control as I hear the thoughts of every human in the place. Oddly enough though, I can decipher them, and a picture from all sides is plain in my head as everyone is staring at Godric. Not wanting to see him this way myself, I turn my head, gripping Eric's shirt in my hands as his arms come around me.

When I look away from Godric, I watch in the human minds as something seems to snap in him, and he snarls. "Sookie." He growls my name, and I can suddenly feel him through the bond with Eric, where I find that his feelings are the same as my bonded. They both sense that I am deeply upset, and neither of them is happy to feel the devastation in my emotions as I try to regain control my telepathy and push away the memories from my childhood. He's sort of hovering mentally, I feel his presence through the bond with Eric as he wants to help, but doesn't know how. I grab the human man's mind, focusing on him and throwing up barriers around everything else. He raises his hand while I block his thoughts and memories, and Godric looks towards him on reflex.

"Get rid of him." I say it quietly, and only the vampires would hear me as Godric growls again. Withdrawing from the man's mind, I block myself away from the room as I retreat into myself for a little while. Eric's hold helps, and it comforts me, making me feel safe as I slowly pull myself together. He's caressing the bond, holding me in the forefront of his mind as he's calmed his raging emotions and does his best to smother the boiling fury he's feeling.

"When you are ready… I want to know what that was about." His quiet statement is and isn't a demand at the same time. There's definitely a strong curiosity in him to know, but also a hesitation as he doesn't want me to lose myself again. Deeper is a third part, the one that wishes to do nothing but find the source of my distress and rip it to shreds, and I reach for it as it is the source of Eric's own stress. He mentally resists at first, blocking me for a second as I try to sink my fingers in, so to speak. But he gives in when I send the request into the bond, asking him to open up for me, and he lets go to allow me access. I focus on only him, shutting off everything else in my radius, and focus my mind on nothing but him.

The best way to describe it is an out of body experience, with both of us present, and I see a much darker looking Eric leaning over me as I've brought out his basest mindset. His fangs are out as his mouth hangs open, panting slowly as he tastes the air, his arms locked around me tightly as his hands dig into my shoulder and hip. I reach out, moving so that I my fingers brush the hair out of his eyes, and I see that they are completely black instead of the usual icy blue as he stares straight forward. A snarl is echoing from him, but a glance at the crowd tells me nobody but me is hearing or seeing this. Placing my hand on his chest, he meets my gaze fiercely as if he just now noticed me, and his face is suddenly only a hair from mine. He takes a deep slow breath, and growls a little louder as he recognizes me, his hold softening slightly but not lessening as I'm turned into his chest possessively. "Can you smell that I'm yours?" I ask on a whim, and behind the powerfully aggressive feelings, there is a brief broadcast of an affirmative.

Moving slowly, his eyes are piercing into mine as I press my lips to his jaw, followed by his mouth even though he doesn't respond as I partially kiss his fangs. "You know I trust you." I whisper into his ear before resting my head against his shoulder to bare my neck to him, and he kisses my skin surprisingly gently although I do feel the scrape of his bared fangs. "Do you trust me?"

His movements stop as I feel like I'm being held like a statue, before he's suddenly moved me slightly to be able to press his forehead against mine. The constant growl that had been disturbing the air around me softens, and changes to more of a purr as he coaxes my fangs down with his thumb and pulls me up against his neck. "I'll take that as a yes." I whisper against his skin, and his nose is in my hair, breathing me in. Biting lightly, I draw a small amount of blood for several seconds as his hand rubs over my back, making me relax blissfully. The emotions rub off on him in the bond, calming him slightly as I throw everything I have into him. Smothering the angry red emotions, I pump him full of the love and adoration I feel for him, gripping my hands around his head and into his hair as I lean up and kiss him soundly.

This time he responds, kissing me back, and I smile against his lips after a minute.

"Do you prefer being with me, feeling like this, to being on an emotional rampage?" I ask quietly, my nose touching his as I sit fully up against him, straddling his legs while I sit on my knees to be at the same eye level with him.

Through the bond it feels like he is cooling down, considering and taking to heart my statement. "You are correct." He rumbles, pulling me down to kiss my forehead and hold me against his chest for a moment as he finally speaks. "I just want to hold you here forever, where I can feel you, protect you and smell that delicious scent that is pure Sookie." His smirk is suggestive, and the realization is sudden as I figure it out. The part of him that will go on a rampage to protect me, when there's nothing to presently protect me from, becomes the part that is extremely doting and willful towards me.

I put myself to him, hugging him, and after only a second he returns the embrace as he holds his arms tightly across my back. "There's my Eric."

"Always yours, dear one. No matter what blood lust your danger magnet existence has caused." Eric says, and suddenly I see that I am being held bridal style again, as it seems that we've returned from whatever place we went to.

Godric is sitting with his back to us on the stage in front of us, his back straight as he sits cross legged with a book in his hands. _You seemed vulnerable when you both zoned out like that, and I didn't like it. I would advise you not do such a thing in public._ He texts Eric's phone, not wanting to say it out loud, and my bonded holds the screen out so I can read the message.

I reach for the phone hesitantly, and Eric drops it into my fingers without hesitation, looking over the crowd with indifference.

 _What do you feel from him now?_ I type the message and hit send, Eric able to glance down and see it in my palms.

Godric looks back at me, surprised, and then turns his eyes to Eric. He still sits on the floor of the stage, not moving from his seemingly relaxed position, and his back stiffens as I feel him opening the child maker bond and assessing Eric. Finally the phone pings as Godric is facing away from us again. _I doubt I could provide a better mate to my child even if I searched the world over for a hundred years._

"Your maker knows how to talk to a woman." I whisper, and I see the vampire in question out of the corner of my eye as he shakes slightly with a contained chuckle. Eric brushes my cheek with the back of his hand softly, and my eyes jump to his.

"I do believe I get by well enough." He says, and I feel his amusement. "I did manage to talk a fae into being mine, which is something no vampire has done before."

I open my mouth, intending to respond when it feels like something is knocking on the shields in my head. _Sookie!_ I hear Lafayette calling for me, and find that he is outside, trying to get past the vampire at the front door. "Can you let Lafayette in?" I say, looking up at Eric with a smile, and he tells the vampire at the door to do so without leaving the stage. He stands, Godric rising as well, and Eric stands me on my own feet before wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his side.

Lafayette comes in, and is quick to follow us back to the office. "Don't over spend." Eric warns, handing the man a card from an envelope on the table, and he slips it in his pocket.

"Godric, this is Lafayette. He's a friend of mine, and is going to be staying in Eric's guest house to work as my private chef." He nods, looking over the human as Eric is going to the desk and pulling something out of the drawer.

"Your car is unreliable, so you may leave it here, and take this one when you leave. It is parked out back." The keys have a Cadillac symbol on them, and Lafayette gives me a wide grin before snatching them from Eric's hand and disappearing out the door.

"He seems… flamboyant." Godric says, and I laugh.

"That's one word for it. Lafayette is trust worthy though, and he's usually fun to have around." Eric comes back around the desk, and hands me a thick paper envelope.

"These are for you, Mrs. Northman. There's a bank right down the street if you want to deposit it into your new account. I put the money from Dallas in there for you." He says, giving me a quick kiss before he lets it go. I open the envelope to find a new driver's license, bank account paperwork and a debit card with _Sookie Northman_ across the bottom.

"Money?" Godric asks, and I nod.

"I have a contract with Eric to work for him, so he agreed to pay me ten grand to come to Dallas and work as his telepath. Which by the way, I think the contract is kind of void with the bonded and almost married." I say to Eric, and he grins, almost as though he's up to something.

Godric pulls his phone out, and says something in another language to someone before hanging up. "I am transferring twenty thousand dollars to your bank account. Please put that much into her account for me, as I would also like to pay you for your services." He says the last part to him, and my mouth drops as I stare at him, as well as glance at Eric who I know will do what his maker said as soon as he gets the chance.

Eric holds his hand out cutting me off, and I pick up the phone that is in his palm, giving him a questioning look. "I got you a new phone, since we thought you might be due for a new number."

"Are you two teaming up to force money and expensive things onto me?" I say suddenly as it occurs to me, putting the phone in my pocket despite myself since I did lose my old one in Dallas, and a second later Pam appears.

"Don't feel bad, they tend to do this when they get together. Be prepared for more, since it only gets worse the longer they are around each other."

"It sounds like Jason when he gets with his high school football buddies." Something occurs to me, and I grin, looking at Pam.

Holding my hand out, she takes it, and we teleport a few blocks away as I see unhappy look on Eric's face."

"When Jason gets with his friends and gets obnoxious, I used to like to disappear for a while. After long enough he gets worried, even now when he knows what I'm doing, and he'll come looking. Got anywhere we can hang out until Eric comes to find us?" Thinking, I throw up shields around the bond, hoping it works like I think it will.

"Hmm… well since Eric knows how to get to me no matter what, it would probably be best if I take you somewhere relatively safe and then keep my distance. I'll take off when I feel him coming and he might follow me at first, until he realizes it's just me. He's going to get you, you know."

My skin feels like its heating up a little as I chuckle. "I know."

We end up walking several more blocks away, until Pam takes us around an unassuming black square building with no windows. "This place is also owned by Eric, but he has it managed by a business partner of his. It's vampires and pets only, so you will receive whatever you want. But don't be surprised if any of them try to fish for information on Eric. They're not all loyal, just on the payroll." She grins, and opens an unmarked black glass door for me to enter. The floor is red tile while the walls are black, and I'm lead past an unmanned podium straight into a bar. Bottles of blood adorn the back of the bar in a decorative pattern, and there are vampires sitting around and socializing. Or at least I think they were socializing before, as they are now all staring at me, and Pam stands stony next to me as I sip a fruity drink she ordered for me.

"Where's Chow?" She demands, and an Asian vampire appears a moment later to stand in front of me.

"Pam, what have you brought us this evening?" I give him a hard look as he examines me.

"This is Eric's bonded, the fairy princess." Pam says it loudly and the faint whispers I had heard before are gone, every vampire in the place having gone silent as I really do become the center of attention.

"I'm Sookie Northman." I say, keeping an even face as I direct imaginary daggers at Pam, which she seems to sense as she smiles.

"Her and my maker are having a little game of cat and mouse, but he doesn't know it yet, so I would like you to escort her to his private room while he figures it out. He doesn't like to go far from her, so as soon as he realizes what's going on, she'll be out of your hair."

"No trouble, I would be happy to let her stick around. I'm the sure the little fae will handle herself just fine if anyone tries to go sniffing around her." His accent is faint, but I finally do hear it, and Pam stays down below while he leads me up a set of stairs. As we reach a landing I realize it is a balcony looking over the floor below. It goes all the way around the room, some tables set along the waist high rail that lets you hide from those below if you wish. I lean over slightly, looking up and I realize that the center of this building is hollow as I stare up at a paneled glass skylight showing off the night sky in the ceiling.

Chow takes me into an elevator before we step out on the top floor. It's quiet up here, but I can distinctly feel a few vampires' minds in rooms on this level. He leads me into a partitioned area, which is open to the walkway and balcony, and has comfortable couches with a private bar and a bartender is standing there. "This is Miguel, he's new, so don't mind him if he bumbles." The Asian vampire says plainly, and the young man there gives me a nervous glance. Picking up a remote, he hits a button and a TV drops from the ceiling, before he hands the small plastic rectangle to me. "Nobody outside of this room will hear it or any sound you make, so watch whatever you like, and if you need anything just send Miguel to get it for you." Other's may walk by, but just ignore them and they should do the same to you.

He's gone in a blink, having used his vampire speed, and I look at the young man behind the counter. I send him to leave me be after he's made me a drink, and I use my cell phone to look up more Swedish, doing my best to memorize the pronunciations. After a bit, I call Arlene and chat with her for a while.

She is elated that she can move into the farmhouse, and I tell her about everything that is going to be done to the place, when she cuts me off. "Yeah, I seen a bunch of work trucks heading down your road a few days ago, and I thought maybe you were having something done." Feeling a little perturbed that Eric didn't at least tell me he was already having work done, I end the phone call and look at my shields. I push them, trying to make them sort of transparent, and look through to the bond as he is still blocked out from seeing me or knowing where I am. He is rather determined at the moment, feeling unsettled as I sense that Godric is also unhappy.

Somehow I am able to sort of reach through my shields, and I grab ahold of him, tugging fiercely before I let go and he loses his sight of me again. He's feeling excited now, getting the message as I had more or less said 'come and get me' with my mental touch.

"Who might you be?" A man's voice asks, and I turn to see the vampire, short black hair and a dark blue pin striped suit that is fitted perfectly. He appears foreign, and I wonder if he's Greek.

"Sookie Brigant Northman." I say, and give him a welcoming smile.

"Brigant Northman? So you're the fairy princess that the Viking Sheriff bonded to. Anyhow, I wanted to ask you where that top was acquired." He grins wide, his hands on his hips, and I chuckle as I'm caught off guard.

"A little shop about a mile from here, privately owned." I say, trying to think of the name. "I think it's… Clarence's? I can't really remember, sorry, it's been a while since I was there."

"I'm Talbot, Mrs. Northman." He says, holding his hand out, and I'm surprised by how friendly he's being. Giving his hand a shake, he gives me a wide smile, and goes to the bar to grab himself a bottle of blood with no label on it. "Your husband really does know how to stock a bar." He muses, taking a long drink. "He's just like my Russel." I wonder if he's just bubbly by habit, and give him an inquisitive look.

"Russel?"

"You've not heard of him? How lovely! Russel Edgington is my maker, and my husband, and king of Mississippi!" He finishes with another drink on the bottle of blood, I give him a surprised look, starting to feel uncertain as I start to wonder if this is someone Eric gets along with or not. "You'll have to meet Russel some time, he is just a doll. He loves seeing new things, so he would definitely be interest in seeing you!"

I nod, looking at my phone as though I got a message, and focus on the bond for a moment as I feel for Eric. He is getting closer, and when I check on him I realize that he must get a feel for where I am as he is suddenly mover faster and more precisely to where I am. Putting my phone back in my pocket, I casually pick up my drink, and go to stand next to the balcony. Looking down, I see who I believe is Pam leave the bar, and I reach out with my telepathy as I sense to voids coming quickly down the street. One of them I recognize as Eric, the other I assume is Godric, and he follows Pam on down the road as Eric comes inside. Checking through the minds of a few of the human pets sitting around in the bar, I see the fierce look that Eric gives everyone there, many of the vampires looking away as they don't want to be the focus of his attention. "My fae seems to be playing hard to get. Do any of you know anything about this?" He asks them, and no one moves as I back up, barely peeking over the rail from above as I watch through one of the bartenders.

Stepping back into the partition, I look at Talbot. "I have to go, I'm sorry."

"Yes, I heard. Have fun." He chuckles, and freezes to stare at where I was when I turn invisible. I go to the first balcony, looking down at him, and almost laugh when he turns in my direction.

"You can all forget seeing me play the game my little fae is trying out." He says resolutely, disappearing and showing up right where I was a moment ago as I move just in time to avoid being grabbed by him.

"You'll have to do better than that, my Viking!" I call out, and I don't know how but my voice resonates as though coming from everywhere. I see many of the people with humans look surprised, not thinking that I would do something like this with a thousand year old vampire.

She thinks it, and it occurs to me that I was in fact chosen by a vampire amongst the ranks of the oldest in the world. His maker is also kind, and likes me enough to protect me. As I thought of this, I opened the bond, and Eric seems to understand and appreciate as I feel deeply flattered. He catches me around the waist by the bar, spinning me in a circle and pulling me to his chest with a grin as I'm suddenly visible. His underlings gawk on, their humans amazed that the vicious Sheriff is capable of such gentile mannerisms, some of them slightly envious when he gives me a soft kiss and picks me up fluidly to hold me against his chest.

"Caught you." He murmurs in my ear, putting a kiss to my temple, and I feel it as a second later he glares daggers over my shoulder at the vampires and humans behind me.

"Min farlig Viking." I murmur in is ear, and I think the reason for his suddenly growl is undecidedly mixed between lust. "Så… skyddande." I say, trying to remember how to pronounce it.

"Alltid." He mutters, despite not changing face, and I let out a long breath as I picture the house in my head. His gasp is subtle, and his hold on me tightens as we are teleported to stand in front of the fireplace in the living room. "Always." He stays with a grin, translating as I give him a look, and he gives me a kiss.

"I want to try something." I say against his lips, and I blush as I feel he's gotten the wrong idea in the bond. "Not like that."

Looking at the fireplace in the corner, I snap my fingers, and Eric is fascinated as a fire jumps to life on the dry logs. "My fae is getting stronger." He remarks, and

I feel a pride welling up in him.

"Alltid." I say, and he chuckles, giving me a salacious grin. "Have I told you how handsome you look when you're all high and mighty? Quite… önskvärd."

"Is that so?" He asks, pushing me down onto the couch and becoming a cage around me. "Do you desire me?" His whisper in my ears sends chills down my spine, but I put a hand on his cheek and he lets me pull him back up to be face to face with me.

"Don't let your ego get too big. We wouldn't want that." I say, tapping him on the nose with my finger, and he snaps at it playfully as I pull my hand away. "You shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you." The quiet but teasing words make his fangs drop and he laughs before he gives me a rough kiss. Strong hands rub over mine a second later as I feel that he is amused. I have clenched my fingers into the front of his shirt, and when he lightly pulls my wrists I look down to see that I've ripped the fabric. "I'm sorry." Blushing up at him, I'm more embarrassed than anything, and he is fighting a smirk.

"You, dear one, could be very farlig if you wanted to be." Chuckling, I think about it and shake my head.

"I don't know, maybe I haven't been influenced by you enough. I've just never really needed to use violence for anything before." I shrug, and he frowns.

"What if I went crazy, and you needed to fight me off?" His arms seem to stiffen as he says it, and I cup my hands on either side of his neck before leaning up to capture his lips. Relaxing, I can feel the muscles beneath my fingers easing up as I continue to give him my full attention.

"If you were to ever go so bloodlust crazy that you attacked me, then I would let you, because I don't think you are capable of harming me."

"Sookie-" He starts to say doubtfully, but I stop him as I grab his hand and make him shift his weight to the other arm. Bringing his hand up, I move it so that his fingers are wrapped around my throat, and he looks at me slightly weary as his muscles are completely slack.

"If you watched me end Godric, could you kill me? Try to imagine it." The playful atmosphere is dissipating, but I am ready to let it as I feel the need to make my point. I can feel it in his mind as he's doing what I said, trying to imagine what it would be like if I staked his maker in front of him.

His hand stiffens, but doesn't squeeze at all, and I can feel that he's doubtful. His own doubt seems to almost scare him, and he gives me a pleading look as his hand softens and caresses up my neck to my cheek.

"Maybe you're feeling doubtful because you know I would never hurt you, in any way." I think aloud, and he considers my words before inclining his head slightly, agreeing with me. "I trust you to keep me, whether you're regular Eric or mindless bloodthirsty Eric, because no matter what I'm yours and you're mine. I think you know that even when you are ready to kill everything that gets in your way."

Taking in my last words, he gives me a kiss, and he's holding me to his chest tenderly as he takes us down to the bedroom.


	6. Chapter 6

Nearly a week later, things are calm as far as we can tell, and we've not heard a word from the queen. Sam has also not showed his face, while Lafayette hasn't left for more than a few hours at a time, and I'm just getting ready to go shopping with Eric gives me a quick kiss and shows me to the back door of the bar.

Jason had been busy lately, working all over trying to make lots of money because he needed to fix something or replace something, he didn't really say what though. He's surprised when I tell him everything, including about Niall, but he's supportive and offers kind words when I tell him about the marriage thing. I'd left him a long message after we returned, not going into specifics but impressing upon him how my life was mine to do with as I pleased and all I asked from him was support and a phone call when he got a chance. It seemed he had taken the message to heart, at least for now, and I hoped it was a sign that he was growing up more.

I think of the few times that Niall has visited us, and the books he's left as well as what he's taught me in person. I've got a good handle on my light, and the workings of my telepathy, as well as I am very precise with my teleporting. I've been reading at every chance I get, stacks of books in our bedroom for when I wake too early before Eric. My schedule has mostly changed to night time though, and I consider bringing some of my books to the bar to read when I'm not scanning the people coming in.

A bright neon sign catches my sign, and I look through the windows of the shop to see that it is a new clothing store. Its sign claims that it is only closed for restocking the first few hours after sunset, and I start to wonder back to something that I had thought on before. Just how many vampires were in Shreveport?

It seemed to be a fair amount, since vampire targeted businesses were starting to open all over, and I do notice a couple of voids browsing racks of clothes by the window as I walk by and round the corner.

My mind is focused on something else, and I don't feel it until it is too late as a vampire approaches me. The rag is across my mouth, and I feel Eric's aggression filling the as I'm being dragged down an alley. Falling to the pavement in an alcove, I see a man looking down at me even as my vision blurs. The bond feels like it's far away, whatever drug he used slowly taking effect as I can only sense that Eric is getting closer. Even that is becoming distant to me though, and it feels like I'm being forced asleep.

A sound catches my attention, and I glance over to see that the man is picking up a shiny chain from the ground which I assume is silver. _Don't! It's a trap!_ I try to impress into the bond, but he doesn't seem to care as I hear a familiar snarling entering the alley a short ways away. My vision goes black, a roar hitting my ears a minute later as silver hits him, and I almost feel his pain through the bond before I go unconscious.

I only wake once, trying to send something to Eric before they somehow know what I'm doing, and I'm put back under.

When I finally come to, I feel a stinging on my wrist that grows worse as I try to move around. Opening my eyes, I find that I am in pitch black darkness, and I feel that my wrists are bound with iron manacles. The chain connecting them to the cold rough floor is short, and I can barely sit up on my knees as I try to reach for the bond. Gasping, I fall to the floor as trying to do anything like that vacuums my strength as though it is too much for me.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." I hear a voice belonging to a woman, and I can suddenly see as light enters the… cave. Looking around, I glance down to see that my chain is bound by a bolt in the floor, and I look back at her.

"Where am I?"

"This is an abandoned iron mine. It's not been used for a while since it's considered empty, but the primitive mining technique of humans has actually left iron everywhere. Particles are in the stone all around us, and dust is on the floor and walls, so along with the shackles you shouldn't last long."

She grins, a creepy shadow cast over her face as she lowers her hand slightly. "What are you talking about?"

"You can feel it, can't you? The iron sapping all your strength into the very air around you, and after long enough your spark will die from simple weakness. When that happens, you also die, since you are too fae to survive as a plain human. You went and bonded yourself to that vampire, and you can only bond once, therefore you are useless to us now." She starts walking away, and I struggle against my binds as I try to reach into myself, to find Eric and our bond. "You cannot do that, as I already said. The iron has made you too weak to feel it, at least not without killing yourself from the energy required. Oh and say hello to your vampire, because when he finds you, he's going to be so blood starved he will not even hesitate to drain you. We've been playing with him all chained up for almost a day while we kept you asleep. Your bond is shut down, since all this iron is making it impossible for you to support it on your end, and he won't recognize you without a bond." Her light disappears, and she's suddenly gone.

I don't move, trying to retain as much energy as possible as I try to think. There's no use in panicking, and I put a lid on my more frantic feelings.

Her last words spook me, but I try to remember that Eric would never turn on me.

Tears occasionally stream down my face as I feel my strength being sucked out slowly and steadily like its water near a sponge, and I cry in frustration as I can't do anything.

I don't know how long I am there, too long, as I occasionally hear strange sounds echoing from far away in the caverns.

"Eric!" My voice is piercing in my own ears, echoing strongly.

I fall to my side on the floor, my eyes closed as I pant harder, my breath shallow as it feels like I can't get enough. There's a sound not far, some sort of echoed rumbling, and I try to lift my head but find that I can't so much as shift.

My body feels… empty.

This is it, I think to myself. My energy is gone, and I feel numb as I lay in the dark, nothing but pain present as iron chains are around my wrist and against my hands. Eric is too late.

A muffled sound a moment later nearby seems to be resonating in my head as the iron is suddenly gone. It's been broken, and I feel someone holding me. I can't see him, but I can at the same time, and I try to smile although I'm not sure if I actually do it. There's a deep rumble in his chest, and it seems to absorb into my body as I try my best to return the sound. My fangs won't even drop, no matter how much I will them to, and he snarls louder as he roughly pushes my head to the side. His nose runs along my skin, his jaw tense when it brushes me as he breathes in my scent.

"Eric…" I hear myself whisper, and the air feels cold as I feel his hand on my chin, tilting my head so that he can see my face. He growls, words seeming to elude him as I feel that he is holding me to him gently. I strain for breath a little more and it feels like I don't have the energy to make my chest rise and fall completely. It's as if my own body is turning to lead, getting heavier and heavier and harder to move.

"Mine." He whispers the word against my skin with a voice of gravel, and suddenly kisses me persistently, which I try to respond to but I can't tell if I manage to or not. His lips are at my neck the next second, and he is holding me fully off the floor as he bites down. I try to send it to him, all of the love and trust I feel, and before I know it the loss of energy gets to me.

It feels as though I'm on an icy surface, slipping no matter how hard I try to get a grip, and I feel a slight pressure followed by a moment of nothing when he bites me. His arms clench around me almost painfully, but he seemingly feels it when I'm uncomfortable, and his hold softens an instant later.

The growl coming from his chest changes to a deep purr, and I feel it as his fangs disengage from my skin slowly while he keeps pulling. Something about the sensation is just right, and my own fangs drop, but unlike usual they click loudly as they lock into place. He seems to hesitate for a second as the sound seems loud in the silent black cave, and his pull is harsher for a second. He repositions me as he breaks free, his mouth healing the marks he made an instant after he stopped. "I'm not letting you go." The sound of him speaking makes me want to weep, and I think I feel more tears slipping over my skin.

One of his hands holds the back of my head, and he holds me up against him, pressing my face into the junction of his neck and shoulder. "Let me heal you, love." His voice is in my ear, quiet and calm sounding, despite the emotions I feel coming off of him in waves and I bite down quickly.

Mouthful after mouthful of his blood pours down my throat, and I can feel it energizing me, but a painful ache starts in my chest. "My spark is dying." I gasp, pulling from his throat as I hold myself to him. Burning starts in my head, and I can see it, the crippled light that was previously extremely bright, it's source right next to where I could find the bond. It wants to heal, but the stress is too much, iron still physically surrounding me within the stone all around us. "Too much iron, darlin'. It's everywhere." He takes a deep breath, and for some reason I wonder if he can smell the metal.

"You are mine." He says fiercely, holding me flush against his chest, and I slowly move my hands into his hair. I wonder if he can feel my resolve as it solidifies a few seconds later.

"Do you think you can bare me being around forever? You're going to have to turn me if you want me to survive this." His nose falls into my hair, and he seems to be mourning me as he holds me.

"I know… but I think you can feel that I'm not leaving this alive." He shifts me back into his arms bridal style, sitting to hold me against him as he keeps me from touching anything but him. There's a soft brush against my cheek, and I realize it's his hair as he's curling over me and dropping his fangs to scrape against my neck.

"Inte lämna mig." I whisper, and he rumbles as his incisors tear into my neck. This is different than him just drinking from me. It hurts only slightly, but I can feel that my blood is spilling faster than ever before. His mouth seals over my flesh, and he's simply swallowing as it pours down his throat, a purr and a snarl mixed together emanating from his chest.

It feels like I'm grounded suddenly, but floating, held by a tether of pure Eric. He drinks for a long time, a pins and needles feeling entering my limbs as I gradually go limp against his chest. There's a feeling that my vision is failing me, and I feel one of his hands petting over my hair to comfort me as he doesn't stop.

My fingers have wound through his hair as things progressed, and they slip as I brush my digits over his cheek. "I love you." His growl changes, becoming softer. My hands are curling against my own chest a second later as I can't even hold them up the few inches to touch him anymore, and he must have cut his tongue deeply as the large marks on my neck are instantly healed.

"I will never leave you." He vows, pressing a soft kiss to my lips, and I sigh his name one more time before his dripping wrist is placed in my mouth. "Just keep drinking…" He whispers, and I listen, his voice the only other thing I know besides his blood as everything else has fallen away.

 _ **)()()(POV Switch to Eric)()()(**_

Just before she loses consciousness, it seems like she kisses me through the bond, and I hold her carefully as I massage her throat to drink more. The iron in this place will continue to affect her, and I grumble absentmindedly as I hold her and feel that is daytime. We will not be able to leave for several more hours, and I am at least grateful that I have time to figure out an exit, since that fae had teleported us both in when she deposited us here. I recall the blood thirsty rage I'd felt, having been drained repeatedly and suddenly being brought and dropped here half-conscious before my captor fled. Anyone to cross my path would have been annihilated, but the mine was empty, and I heard it as that woman started speaking. I move through the dark, seeing perfectly fine as I slowly inspect each possible area. My movement ceased and I stood stone still when I heard her call my name loudly, moving quickly the next instant as I get close enough to smell her out. I growled loudly when I first caught her scent, and it was enough to give me pause in my unpredictable state as all I could smell was weakness and near death overpowering a somehow familiar and mouthwatering aroma. Despite myself, I held the girl carefully as I pulled her against me, having snapped away the metal binding her wrists and pushing her head to the side to run my nose over her throat. Looking back I realize that I was trying to find out what was wrong with her, but I had been unable to find any injury, her body seeming to want to just wither away as she seemed almost lifeless.

After a minute I found I wanted to bite, but then felt that I couldn't do so, and my chin just brushing her skin was sending a twist into my gut. Then she'd whispered my name, and I'd come back to myself enough to lean up and look at her, _really_ look at her as I growled. Realization crashed over my being, my anger and rage dissipating as I held onto my mate.

"Mine." I murmur before impulsively kissing her, my mouth interacting with hers as she responds minutely. Hunger raged through me, recognizing that this was my bonded in my arms, and I sank my fangs into her throat a moment later as I held up within the security of my arms.

My hold tightened on the bond, my arms tightened around her on reflex when I did so, and then loosened when I finally feel her through the bond. I have to work to keep both ends open from just mine, and I shamelessly purred like a cat when I'd felt what she was sending me.

Then it had felt like she was somehow gone for a second, and I had growled loudly as I'd mentally demanded she stay. It felt like it worked a few seconds later, and I rumbled lovingly against her as I healed her neck. My hunger for the moment had been sated, and I was able to fully think as I shifted thoughts of killing to the back of mind and really focused on her, especially as I heard the click of her fangs. I was still getting myself under control as I pulled her up, resting her head on my shoulder and putting her right against my neck. "Let me heal you, love."

Having to turn her, while sudden and making me feel extremely saddened, is not a bad thing. Taking her blood to do so seems to be plenty and more than enough for me to be replenished fully. Perhaps her being fae makes it more portent, and I then wonder if she will retain anything fae after she is fully turned.

She drinks consciously for longer than Pam managed, but then again she was entirely drained of energy and I assist her to swallow as she keeps drinking even after no longer being conscious. I hear her heart, beating slowly as it stutters a few times, and finally gives out to go silent. When she's taken more than enough and then some, I pull my wrist away to heal, and she curls against my chest which surprises me. Once given the blood, a human should be technically dead until the turning is complete, and I'm even more surprised when I check the bond.

It feels as though she's only sleeping, and I check more into her physical state as I evaluate her body through the connection. It feels as though there is a sort of energy void left behind inside of her, where I think her light and human life force once were, and I can almost sense it as my blood fills the void to heal her. I can't leave her, focusing on the bond and holding her comfortably as I walk through the stone passages. There's a hallway to the left up ahead, and I jump back carefully, hissing as a small ray of sun hits me and I check Sookie to make sure she is undamaged. Carefully looking around the rough corner, I see that it is just a small ray coming through a pile of rubble which seems to be blocking the exit, and I relax with her resting in my lap, not touching the stone herself as I lean back against the wall.

She hasn't moved any more, her side of the bond quiet as though she were deeply asleep, instead of muted like it should be. Perhaps it has something to do with her being fae, and it just occurs to me to check my pocket. I grin like a mad man when I find that I still have my phone, and I send a silent prayer to any gods who will listen that it's not dead. The screen is bright as it tells me it still has a fifth of a charge, and I send out several text messages before going through my contacts to find a phone number. "Yes? Who is this?" Niall answers, and I chuckle, agreeing with my luck at the moment.

"I've had to turn Sookie. Some crazy ass fae showed up, just like you said they might, and used a vampire to get Sookie and then me. We're in a fucking iron mine of all places. I can still feel her in the bond, and I shouldn't be able to do that, so what the hell is going on?" He's silent for a long moment as he processes and finally sighs before speaking.

"The secret, once you must keep if you wish not to have all fae hunted to full extinction this time, is that when a fae turns they don't just lose everything like a human usually does. Fae are creatures of magic, and we do not fall to such trivial things, our magic will adapt."

"Adapt?" I say, testing the word as I think it over. "You mean she will remain fae?"

"Yes and no." He says, and finally chuckles as he can hear how annoyed I am. The growl coming from my chest is something most people shy away from. "She will retain the abilities she had when she was turned, and it would take a lot of work, but she could develop more as they won't just come naturally now. Her blood should benefit you, as though she were still human, and you should be able to drink as much as you want without fear of hurting her. Your blood will also nourish her although I still recommend real food, since she can still consume it, and she should rise more controlled."

"And?" I know there must be more.

"What I am about to tell you is the secret to day walking, vampire. Let me apologize if I'm not as forthcoming with it as you'd like." He takes a loud deep breath, and I swallow, staring down at Sookie as I wonder if he's serious. "Because you turned her, and she is fae as well as she was willing, you will both be day walking vampires."

I almost drop the phone, my other hand petting down Sookie's hair absently as I am not sure how to handle this. Then I think over what he said about it being a secret, and I ponder over why as it strikes me. If this were to become public knowledge, all a vampire would have to do is trick a fae into believing a lie of intense love, and he would be able to day walk once he arranged for an 'accident'. It would be the end of the fae in the course of just a few decades.

"It will remain my knowledge alone. Now about the fae woman who did this, do you have any idea who she could be. Long dark hair, stuck up air about her, piss poor attitude."

Niall chuckles for a second, "That could describe quite a few I know who are against the mingling of the human and fae. Some believe that it will weaken us, despite part fae individuals proving themselves to be stronger many times over. If a part fae bonds a full fae, then the part fae becomes fully fae, and that's why they would kill Sookie. Fae can create a bond in light in order to choose a mate, but they can only take any sort of bond once in their lifetime, whether it be blood or light. She was no longer possible to use as a breeder for them, so they had no reason to leave her alive. They probably underestimated the power of the bond you have with her, am I right?"

"Yes. That woman was certain that she was going to get me to kill Sookie for her, and kept repeating it while she drained me. She did not realize that hurting Sookie only would make me more careful when I found her."

"Very good. I will leave you to get yourselves sorted then, and I will come to check on her in a few nights. You should also be immune to the sun by the tomorrow morning, since she will be far enough along at that point." He hangs up, stopping me from asking anything else, and I finally dial Godric when its two hours until sunset.

Picking up on the first ring, his voice sounds slightly more strained than normal. "Eric?"

I tell him that I am trapped in a cave with Sookie before hanging up, noticing as he grabs subtly onto the maker child bond. He feels it, the slight change in my connection with Sookie, but I shield her before he gets a good look and he focuses on my location as I don't let him feel anything else from me.

When there is only half an hour left until sunset, I am sitting in down time as I cradle Sookie to me, my frame bent slightly over hers when I hear a loud engine. It seems to come right up to the blocked entrance, and it disappears as I hear and smell were outside. "Northman! You in there?"

I blink, surprised to hear that voice, but growl lightly as I hold Sookie securely. "What are you doing here, Herveaux?"

"I just so happened to be working on a site an hour away and I got a call from some ancient vampire that my debt holder was trapped in a cave. Thought this might be worth some of my balance." His voice is muffled by the stone but I can hear a laugh, and I retreat as I hear some machine going to work on the rock pile and soft light starts spilling into the cave next to us. A minute later it stops, and I watch as he appears down the corridor from us, coming closer as I twist to hold Sookie away from him. "What the hell?" He asks, eyeing my chest as he must have caught a glimpse of her.

"She will wake tomorrow night as my youngest child. You will not touch her." I growl, and he takes an unnecessary step back as a thickness seems to fill the air, hinting at danger to the supe's senses.

"No worries, damn, what's with the evil eye?" He walks away, shaking his head as I realize just how overbearing I'm being considering that Alcide has never been disloyal, but I can't help the automatic growl as he walks back into sight with arm full of things. "This is a cooler of bagged blood, and I just so happened to have a blanket if you want it for the girl. Should I leave it half way and then back off?" He asks, taking a hesitant step forward, and I nod. There's a slight warmth on my skin from the barest amount of indirect light reaching us, but it's nothing to worry about, and I watch closely as Alcide's shadow creeps closer to us on the floor.

He stops further than half way, but I don't complain as he quickly retreats and sits with his back to us at the end of the cave as though standing guard. I skillfully wrap Sookie in the blanket before carrying her and the small cooler back to the end of the tunnel, opening it next to us as she lays in my lap. I finish several bags quickly, securing the lid when I'm done and looking towards the were. "Where are we?"

"Tennessee, south of Memphis and almost on the border to Mississippi." Frowning, I think for a minute before grabbing my phone and dialing the AVL directory.

"Mississippi, tell him it is Eric Northman." I tell the operator, and twenty seconds later I hear several clicks as I seem to be transferred.

"This is the home of Russell Edgington, how may I direct your call?" A woman asks, and I growl.

"Get Russell, now!" The line goes quiet after my roared words, soft piano waiting music starting to play, and then it's picked up again a second later.

"Well?" His voice comes over the line, and I recognize it.

"Russell, this is Northman. My bonded was hurt, and I was forced to turn her, in a fucking cave of all places South of Memphis. Would I be able to receive sanctuary, as I have reason to think she will not be safe in Louisiana? I do believe that your Talbot took a liking to her when he met her a week ago."

"Talbot!" He calls, and I hear the other vampire a moment later. "Did you meet Northman's bonded when you were in that area last week?"

"Yes, and she was quite the doll. Why do you ask?"

"Hmm… well it would seem that he was forced to turn her. He doesn't think Louisiana is safe for her anymore. Would you like to have guests?"

"That would be perfect, I will make up the guest rooms." He sounds cheerful, and footsteps sound as he leaves the room.

"You heard my husband." Russel says, and I look at Alcide as he stands, seeming to be looking at something outside. "I will send some wolves to escort you. Do you know where you are exactly?"

"That will not be necessary, I will get us there. It will not be long after dark." I say, and after a second the phone goes dead on his end. "What is it Alcide?" I ask, and he looks down the tunnel to us.

"There have been rumors of a pack of V addicted wolves running around this area." He says in a low voice, and I realize what he's saying. I growl, and he looks surprised as the sound seems to shake the walls, my face scrunching as I bare my fangs at no one. There's a series of howls a few moments later. "They seem to realize that you're kind of old." He mutters, coming a third of the way down the tunnel and sitting sideways so that he can look either direction.

He glances my way multiple times, before giving me a fully questioning look. "What's your deal?"

I study him for a moment, and realize he was watching me look repeatedly at the entrance to the cave while otherwise looking down at the petite woman in my arms. "We are protective of the children we've just turned, but… Sookie is already my bonded. The urge to keep her safe is out of my control as all I want to do right now is get to the Mississippi vampire kings estate. As soon as the sun sets I will be gone, and you should do the same." I tell him, and he nods. It's only a few more minutes, and he's aware of it as he goes back to look out of the cave, where almost no light is coming inside.

My senses tell me when it is safe to go out, and I stand, holding myself under control as I remind myself that he is an ally and walk past him with Sookie. "This will settle half your debt." I tell him, and he looks shocked as he stares at me. Turning slightly, I let him see her face against my chest and framed in the blanket, and he gives her a long look before staring up at me. "Should you ever be around and find her in need of protection, it would settle any debts you have, and then some." I tell him, and he nods, taking another look at her face before I turn away and continue towards the exit. Seeing his beaten down work truck makes me frown, and I make note to find a suitable couple of replacements as a gift for the were.

The area seems clear, and I don't sense anything amiss before I step up into the air, holding Sookie to my chest and shifting the cloth to cover her face from the wind.

Our flight doesn't take long, her body fitting perfectly into my hold, and I land at the front door to Russell's mansion soon enough. A single knock is all it takes before the doors are opened, and a man in a suit eyes me uncertainly before giving Sookie an interested glance. "She is mine." My growl makes his eyes jump back up, and I feel that he is even younger than Bill, making me smirk as he hesitates under my gaze. "I am Eric Northman, Russell is expecting me."

He looks indifferent, but I can see it behind his eyes, the feeling of understanding that I could kill him without even sitting Sookie down. "Right this way." I take everything in instantly, not missing a single detail as I inspect every aspect of each room as we are led to Russell's office. The young vampire knocks once, then opens the door and stands aside for me.

"Eric Northman! Long time no see, and the lovely Miss Stackhouse too." He says, looking down at her, and I growl silently as I manage to keep the sound from coming forth.

"I am sorry to be short, but I have had a trying day. May we be shown to our room?"

Giving Sookie a long look, he nods understandingly, and Talbot appears behind us at the door.

His mouth doesn't stop as he leads me to an elevator, and tells me the pin number for our room. Punching it in, I am patient as it moves downward, the sliding door opens to a small foyer type space with a steel door up ahead. "The password to get in gets set by you, so just put it in right the first time. Russell recently had the whole estate fitted with these underground rooms for guests. If you need anything, use the phone by the door to call for it, and it will be delivered to the door here. Your elevator pin is your room number. I spoke to that child of yours, and have clothes provided in both of your sizes in the closet." He explains quickly, and I nod, instantly typing in today's date as Sookie's new birthday and pushing the door open. Automatic lights come on smoothly, and the door clicks shut, locking behind me as Talbot gets back in the elevator. The room looks like a honey moon suite, a large open room with lounge couches and two mini fridges, with doors going into different rooms. I am quick to order a phone charger, and send a text to Pam to have my laptop and some other items personally delivered by Thalia. She confirms that it will be a few hours before she arrives, and in the mean time I hold Sookie before drawing a warm bath in the large tub in our private bathroom, and I undress her before lowering her gently.

I don't think about it as I clean her slowly, whispering my ramblings thoughts to her in Swedish as I once did to Godric in tense situations. I've soon patted her dry with a towel and dressed her in a soft pajama set before depositing her on the center of the bed, and take my own shower in just a few minutes. My mind is constantly divided, part of it locked onto the bond and keeping a close tab on my bonded and newest child. She's getting stronger, something I've noticed since the instant we left the old mine, and I close my eyes once I join her in bed and hold her in my arms. Burying my nose in her hair, I inhale deeply, and get a light feeling in my chest as I smile and purr against her. She smells like vampire and pure fae, combined into one perfect thing that is also Sookie times ten. I wonder what affect it would have on me if I were not her maker, or bonded.

Not moving from her side, I answer a few emails on my phone, being sure to notify Sophie Anne that I've taken a vacation with Pam in my place. I'm gently teasing a braid into her hair when I hear a knock at our suite door.


	7. Chapter 7

I look through a monitor on the wall, and find Thalia standing there with a blank look on her face and two duffle bags in her hand. When I open the door, she's inside instantly, and turns to me. "So why is Pam all creepy silent and acting like its Christmas?"

"Damn it." I mutter, pulling out my cell phone and texting her to stay away from my credit cards. There's a heavy disappointment from her a moment later, and I feel a little relieved as she doesn't answer the message but seems to comply. Looking back to Thalia, I give her a serious look. "Sookie and I were attacked by a fae, that's where we've been for a couple of days, and I had to turn her." She sniffs the air, and her head snaps to look at the bedroom door, before taking an unconcious step and stopping to look at me questioningly.

I'm in the room an instant later, hovering protectively over Sookie as Thalia slowly comes in, looking at me as I tense up. "For some reason, I am feeling quite protective of her right now, so don't make any sudden moves." My words are hollow, her eyes conveying her understanding as she examines the girl at my side, and my stare is deadly as I watch the other vampire's every twitch.

"She smells… different." She remarks, and I see the gleam in her eye as she doesn't get closer than coming a few feet in the door.

"It is to be a secret for now, that she is going to retain her fae abilities. Even as a vampire." I don't miss the slight widening of her eyes, and she is suddenly staring at me with an incredulous look.

"So why am I here?" Her voice is low, and I arrange Sookie down onto the comforter gently as Thalia watches, before I lead her back out of the room.

"I am filing an addendum with the AVL paperwork on Sookie's turning. I retrieved a detailed list of the rules and such surround bonded, and there was a special category should the bonded be a fae. You are to be appointed Sookie's guardian, tasked with her safety, should you choose to accept." She looks truly shocked, staring at me as I don't move, before looking back at the bedroom door with a solemn look.

"It is only necessary for legality." She says, and I go to speak when she cuts me off. "I've already planned to stand by her." Her voice is quiet as she is looking away, and she finally meets my surprised look with a steely gaze a second later. "She is worth protecting."

That pretty well settles it as she takes the smaller of the two bags, and goes to the room across the living space from ours. "I want free drinks at Fangtasia as well." She says lightly, closing the door behind her before I can respond. I send a message to her phone with the door code, before returning to Sookie and placing my laptop on the bed beside me as I pull her up to lay against my other side. The forms are all quickly filled out, and I send them all to be filed before registering Sookie online and ordering her new ID. Other work follows, residency requests and other area business except for one that catches my eye. It is the announcement for the day and time of the Winter Gathering, which was a fancy party held by Godric every ten years for the oldest vampires in the world to come together. You have to be at least eight hundred to attend, humans and bonded vampires an exception to the rule, and I start to imagine Sookie in evening gowns. The date surprises me, being only two weeks away, and I wonder if there's a reason that my maker hasn't mentioned it sooner.

Picking my phone up, I think for a second before messaging him. _Would you come to join us on our vacation? I received sanctuary from Russell._

His response is a simple 'Yes' a minute later, and I glance towards him in my head to feel him already coming closer.

My thoughts are disrupted as I receive a notice from the Magister in my email, telling me that he will be coming by Fangtasia in the following week, and I forward the message to Pam so that she is prepared to receive him when I am not there. I'd already sent the document to my queen's office for my short vacation, so I am not obligated to make myself available to him.

The night is uneventful with most of my time spent fiddling with her hair and being distracted by her in general as I catch up on the Sherriff work.

When I feel it, the sun rising over the horizon, I'm surprised that I don't feel the pull to sleep. It's almost as though I have a choice, and I choose to remain wrapped around Sookie as I will myself into my day rest.

A loud growl is rising in my chest before I am even conscious, making sure that Sookie hasn't moved before I realize that what has piqued my protective instinct is outside the door. It would seem that someone is in the main room with Thalia, their scents carrying through the door to me, and I settle back down on the bed next to my bonded child. She seems to be humming into the bond, slightly stirring as I give her a warm touch, and I know it will only be a few hours before she is conscious again.

"What was that about?" A man asks, and I listen as Thalia answers.

"He has just turned a child." Her voice is bored.

"That… but wasn't his mate fae?" The man seems uncertain.

"Yes. Fae can be turned, just as with were or shifter."

The man doesn't say anything, shifting around for a second before I hear him leave and get into the elevator. "That was my day man." I hear Thalia call out, and I don't complain as it reminds me that I need to find a new one. Sookie had had a rather bad reaction when she met Bobby, resulting in him becoming abruptly unemployed.

Sending the request to Pam to contact trusted older vampires in search of a lead for someone reliable, I wait as the sun is almost set, and I realize I over slept. Perhaps it had something to do with being previously so drained, but I don't think on it for more than a couple of seconds as I slip into down time, waiting.

I feel it when she is there, her end of the bond practically sending me electricity right before I kiss her, and she opens her eyes to stare at me. Her fangs drop, and I feel them cut my lip before her tongue darts out to taste the minute blood left behind and her eyes roll back in her head. She moans into my mouth, her lips responding to mine when I growl, and her own soft growl rumbles out despite the fact that she relaxes against me. My arms are locked around her waist as she lays up on my chest, and she chuckles as I think she can feel how pleased I am with her. Her focus lays into the bond itself, studying it as she seems to feel the change. The hair that once fell to halfway down her back is now down to her thighs, and she seems to have sharp manicured nails as she runs them over my side without thought.

Her expression when she feels me changes, and she wretches her hand away from my side before moving and looking down at the bare skin. Four lines of blood run from the edge of my back up my side to my stomach, and she pulls in a ragged breath as I sense her emotions darkening. I don't quite expect it when she lunges forward, locking her fangs into flesh and surprising me into snarling loudly. She cleans the healing area tenderly before she looks up at me, and the moment is picturesque. Her hair splayed all around her smooth pale skin and an uncertain look on her face as she stares up at me with wide wondering eyes. Blood runs from her lip to down her chin in a small line, and I grin crookedly as I put my fingers beneath her jaw. My thumb swipes the blood away, and she licks it from the pad of my finger before I pull her up against me, locking her lips to mine. "You are bloodthirsty." I grin, sitting back against the pillows and headboard as she looks up from my chest.

"You taste amazing." She smiles wide, putting a kiss to my chest as she continues to stare at me, and I grin down at her.

"I am your maker, dear one, of course I do." I tell her, and pull her up to lead her to the shower. "I am told that you will be equally delicious, and I will not need to drink from another. You can also drink from me to survive, and I was told that I could drink from you endlessly… Niall was helpful." Her face is questioning and I answer it before she asks. Leaning closer, I set my forehead against hers under the steaming water. "He also told me that because you were willing to be turned, we will both end up as day walkers." She's still for a second, and her eyes are staring into mine as I feel that she is doing her best to take it all in. I wait a moment, and kiss her nose before turning her away from me and starting to wash her long hair. When she sighs I check the bond, and find the feeling of my hands rubbing her scalp enjoyable for her. Happily, I keep doing so for a bit longer than necessary before taking care of the long tresses. I laugh when she pulls me down so that my head is low enough, and she can give me the same treatment.

The tenderness of her fingers in my hair is something else, tinging and enticing and dangerously intimate all at the same time, and I can't help but purr as she works the soap thoroughly. When she's done, she pulls me the single step forward to put my head back under the water spray, and while still bent down to her level I turn my head up to look at her. "You'll get soap in your eyes." She teases, her hands brushing back over my forehead to keep the soapy water from going down my face.

"It's only a minor irritation." I assure her, and plant a kiss to her lips before we continue to bathe each other. While I had joined her several times in the last week during her showers, it had not been quite like this, a new level of familiarity flowing between us. She can tell that the bond is no longer capable of being closed, and I wonder what she thinks of being open to each other whether we want to be or not.

"I'm used to being alone." Her whisper makes my heart ache. "But I don't feel alone with you, and I like the bond being open. I don't care that I can't close it." She says, making me realize she must have caught that thought, and I decide that I don't care either. There is nothing I want to hide from her, and I put my hands on either side of her as I back her against the wall. Her head falls to the side, a smile gracing her lips as she closes her eyes and wraps her arms slowly around my torso.

"I'm never going to leave you." I whisper against her neck, and bite down a second later, drinking copious amounts as she squirms against me suggestively.

We end up having to get clean again before we are dressed, and I tell her about Thalia before we exit the room. She is plastered to my side, not wanting to leave me for even a second, and Thalia is carefully quiet as she sits at a table with a computer.

"You seem suited to this." She says quietly, and Sookie stares at her for a second.

"I feel like I shouldn't trust you." Sookie is hesitant and her voice is low as she says it, staring at the older vampire.

"That is because of the age difference. Your vampire instincts are telling you that I could kill you in an instant. Eric is older though, so consider that, what do you feel with over a thousand years right behind you?" She is contemplative, and stares up at me as she breaks eye contact with Thalia. I think over it also, what I would do if another vampire were to attack Sookie in this moment, and her lips twitch into a small smile.

"Eric wouldn't hurt me." My face is indifferent, but she can feel the enjoyment I get from hearing her say this while the truth of her words rings through our bond.

"She is my bonded child." I say matter-of-factly to Thalia, giving her a long look. "We will not part, and she would have gained an amount of my strength from being turned to be able to defend herself as we live and die together."

"Die together?" Sookie says, looking up at me, and I know she feels how sorry I am as I just realized that she probably didn't already know. "You mean, that if one of us dies…?" Her question hangs in the air, and I nod minutely.

"If one of us dies, then so does the other, no matter where you are or what you are doing."

"That is why bonded children are such a rare occurrence." Thalia interjects, and Sookie moves her attention as my arms cross over her chest and hold her to me. "For a vampire to have turned their bonded is to basically give their bonded their life, or what remains of it." She stalks closer, driving this point home as she whispers the last part. "How many times, since you've agreed to be his, could you have driven a stake through his heart without interference?" There would be a stutter in Sookie's heart if it still were beating, and she feels the full implication of the words as she stares up at the older vampire.

There were so many times when I wouldn't even look at her as she walked up behind me, because I expected nothing but her arms to wrap around me, her hands to play over my skin, or her mouth to meet mine. If such behavior were regular, I would have been ended long ago, and somehow I'm able to see her thoughts as she reads my own.

 _I am your weakness._ She says the words to me without moving her mouth, and I attempt to do the same, projecting a thought to her through the bond.

 _You are my everything._ Her blush would have been prevalent if it were possible, and there's a warmth to her thoughts as she doesn't respond and just starts giving me loving strokes. I'm aware of Thalia watching us, and I wonder if Sookie's eyes are closed, deciding that they are as I look up from the top of her head to see my old comrade staring at me instead of my child.

"Can you hear my thoughts now?" Thalia asks suddenly, and I feel Sookie jump slightly at the sudden sound.

"I…" Through the bond I can feel her reaching out, and she is intrigued as she seems to dig deeper. "No." Sookie says, and we both wait as we sense there is more. "But I can pick up something, I don't know how to explain it, like I feel what you're going to do, but then again not really. Let me… just…" She's focusing harder, and I pull her closer in the bond, trying to observe what she is trying to relay. I think I understand it, and give her a gentle push to drop her barriers so that I can get closer to the telepathy part. They will move if I want them to, but I ask her first as I see that they are only covering her telepathy to keep unwanted thoughts out. She does so, seeming to try and ignore the humans in the house above us as I focus with her on Thalia.

"I get it." I murmur, and pull free from her mind as I open my eyes which had closed at some point when I wasn't paying attention. The feeling of her blocking the thoughts of others once again is clear to me, and I feel it out for a second as it seems like she's somehow holding me inside and outside of the barrier at the same time. "Were you to choose to move against us, I believe Sookie would still the room on instinct, as she would feel you coming. But if you were to just, go to use the phone for example, she wouldn't be able to see it because it doesn't matter. It's like a special ability, a mix of her fae telepathy and her vampire sense."

"Perhaps that _is_ her ability." Thalia suggests, and I grin down at Sookie, who is staring up at me with a smile.

"I feel like I can feel through you too, so I think I could feel it if we were apart and something wanted to get to you." She says, and I chuckle, wondering what Godric's reaction to all of this will be.

"You are quite unique." I tell her, and give her a kiss.

"So how long do we stay in the kings company?" Thalia says, returning to her seat as she continues to look between me and Sookie.

"Sanctuary is for five nights, so I believe that long while we get our bearings." Looking down at Sookie, I give her a warm stroke in the bond. "Godric hosts a ball in two weeks, called the Winter Gathering, would you like to go?" She thinks for a second before nodding.

"I'll have to have Pam take me shopping, since I don't think I have anything worthy of a ball. Where will it be held?"

Chuckling, I pull her towards the door with me. "That will be decided soon, since Godric has moved states."

"Where are we going?" She asks with a grin, feeling that I am a little excited for something.

"I am taking you outside." I say deviously, and she doesn't press the issue as we go through the door and I tell her the code, which she doesn't seem to realize what it means. When I tell her she laughs, and she closes her eyes when I ask her to as the doors open. Taking her into my arms, I ignore the looks I receive as we go outside and I float several hundred feet up into the air. "Look up." I whisper in her ear, and she does so, gasping as her mouth falls open.

"Wow." Is all she says, and I feel her wonderment as she can't seem to look away from the night sky, slowly turning to look at me several minutes later. "Can I fly?" She asks, and I laugh at the unexpected question.

"Perhaps." I chuckle, and take her hands as I move her to stand with her shoes on mine, her body leaning slightly away from me as my hands on her shoulders secure her. "Try. Imagine yourself doing so, and ask your body to oblige."

She thinks inward, attempting to do so, and her laugh is like cool water as her feet float up beneath her. Taking her hands, I let her drift out away from me as I hold her securely, and she starts pulling me along as she gets the hang of it. We slowly go higher, not really paying attention as I let her enjoy herself while staying close in case she were to falter.

Her attention is diverted, her eyes on the sky as she lies on her back and floats upward to escape the interference of the lights below. A tickle in the back of my mind is unnoticed by her, and I look around beneath us as I feel that Godric has almost reached us. I hide myself so that he doesn't notice as I sense him slowly coming in from the sky south of us, and he is feeling amused as he sees us and realizes what is happening. Drifting lower, I encourage Sookie by mentally mapping out the constellations, and she retraces them in her mind as she takes the knowledge and memorizes it.

Receiving a torrent of emotions from Godric, I sort them as I see that he wants to see what she'll do when someone unfamiliar is suddenly there. He drifts past me, an uncharacteristically playful look on his face, and reaches his hands out as he drift closer. It feels like he's hiding himself partially from being detected, making him feel very similar to me as he gets closer to her.

The hair on the back of her neck raises, and I feel the tiny chill that runs up her spine as she feels something isn't right. My maker strikes in the next second, grabbing her around the stomach as he pulls her back and she makes a sheen of light cover her skin at the same time that her fangs drop. He releases her as he hisses and I smell the burns that are healing on his flesh as she pops to appear behind me. Looking around my shoulder, she seems to be assessing Godric, and I feel that she is wondering whether or not he will be mad at her. For some reason she is also hesitant to approach him, probably realizing for the first time just how old and powerful my maker is as I feel the natural warning bells going off in her head.

"Sookie." His voice is calm as he has turned to face us, floating down to be at the same height as me, and she comically puts her hands on my shoulders as she lifts her head up to rest it on mine. She is floating behind me, and is looking at him uncertainly.

"I didn't mean to burn you." She says with a clearly sorry inflection to her voice, and he gives her a small smile, making her relax.

"That is exactly what you should do, should you ever be grabbed by someone you didn't give permission to do so." He states, and she appears behind him a second later. Her finger zaps his shoulder, and she suddenly appears thirty feet away in the air above us, making him growl as he swipes at the empty air. "The use of your abilities in such a manner could be very useful." Giving me a focused look, I nod, grinning and pleased as she appears in front of me to give me a sudden kiss with her fangs still down.

"This could be fun." She muses, and disappears to pop out of my sight and I grunt in surprise when she suddenly grabs my foot and yanks me downward.

"Pull me, hard as you can." I tell her, and she is intrigued as I hold my hand out for her to take. She doesn't do so, instead picking up my other foot and jerking me upside down to go higher up in the sky. Godric is roaring with laughter, catching me off guard before I start resisting and gauge her strength as she pulls with more force. Finally I reach at my fastest, grabbing her wrist before she can respond and holding her to my chest upside down as she looks at the ground 'above' her head. "You are quite incredible." I tell her, kissing her neck as the wind of the higher altitude rushes in our ears.

The time we spend in Russell's home is peaceful, and Russell turns out to be quite an enigmatic host when he takes a liking to someone. He was excited to show Sookie things, and tell her stories of his youth, which he rarely dredged up in any company according to Godric. Talbot was also welcoming, and Pam ended up flying here for a night to go shopping at a high end boutique to find a gown for the Winter Gathering in another two night's time. She took Sookie of course, and Talbot also went as they found what was supposed to be the perfect dress, although I had promised my mate that I would wait to be surprised by seeing it.

As a vampire, Sookie is amazing. She adapted quite well to everything that I brought her way, and along with Godric's help, she was quickly on her way to being a proper member of our community. Rarely if ever does she leave a room I am in, and rumors are slowly spreading through the ranks about the goddess who won't leave my side in public. We spend a fair amount of our time in Fangtasia, planning and helping Godric to arrange the Winter Gathering although it becomes mostly Pam's job in the end. She and Sookie have gotten to become well acquainted, almost what you call friends, and Thalia is also starting to get along with Pam more as she doesn't leave Sookie's shadow.

The paperwork with the AVL is processed without a hitch, and I am only too pleased to hear the jealous tone in Nora's voice when she calls me with a 'congratulations'.

Lafayette is getting along well, caring for the house while we're gone and I'm surprised when we get home to find that he had acquired Sookie's Christmas decorations. She was delighted to decorate as he had only put up a few things from the boxes he lined up behind the couch in the living room. It had been interesting, when she had explained the mistletoe idea, and I had gone through the effort of hanging it in every doorway of the house since she never left my side to avoid it.

Our first morning together in the sun had been like a dream. Thinking back, I still get distracted as I remember the way the sun seemed to play in her hair, and the way that water had shimmered around her while she was in the pool. It was definitely a sort of shock for me, seeing the world bathed in light for the first time in so long. We had only done it once, the first morning we were home, but no doubt we would be enjoying the sun together again soon.

I'm considering joining Sookie in the office when I focus past my phone screen and see the woman leaning on her arms against the stage. My growl should be enough to spook her away, and she looks slightly nervous before taking a deep breathe. "I wanted to offer my services to you." Her voice is sultry, and I scoff with disgust, looking towards Pam at the door who appears to be enjoying the annoyance to me.

"I only feed from my bonded. Be gone."

The woman rolls her eyes, and moves as though to stand onto the stage. She stops as Sookie is suddenly in my lap, running her hand over my throat as she leans into me lovingly to kiss my neck. My hand brushes over her back, my gaze not breaking from glaring at the fangbanger. I feel her stiffen against me, and her fangs drop as she growls to curl back against my chest and look at the unfamiliar woman. "What do you want with my maker?" Sookie demands, having this be the first time she has called me thus in public, and she feels the swell of pride I have.

There's something off about this woman, a strange fog seeming to keep her thoughts from my bonded's viewing, and see looks at me with what she must believe is a seductive look. "I have business with him."

"Then what is it?" Pam is watching from the door, entertained to see Sookie so territorial, and I find that Godric is doing the same from his seat behind the bar although he isn't watching just listening.

"It is customary for the child to be so dominant?" The woman asks, her eyes moving between us as she wears a smile and seems to believe that what she said was smart.

Despite the fact that I would likely end her instantly in any other situation, I just smirk broadly, chuckling as I lean slightly to place a kiss lightly on Sookie's temple. "My bonded may do as she pleases in my presence."

The look that crosses the woman's face is priceless as she comes to realize what she is seeing, and I feel that Sookie is calculating as she stares the human down. "Thalia, ta bort hennes halsband." She says suddenly, and the vampire in question doesn't hesitate to follow the order, moving from behind the bar. Her speed cannot be followed, and the human woman just looks on in slight confusion as her necklace is suddenly removed from her. "Förstöra den." The rain drop shaped pendant that had hung from a simple chain crumbles in Thalia's grip, and she drops the left over pieces to the floor, causing the woman to gasp as she sees them fall from the hand that is suddenly in front of her.

Her hand flies to her neck, and I feel Sookie grinning as she sits up and hangs her legs off my lap, her feet barely touching the floor in front of her as she leans closer to the human.

"There now, isn't that better?" Her voice is like silk as she says the words to the woman at the base of the stage, who shivers and looks sideways at Thalia uncertainly. "So, Hallow, what can we do for you this evening?"

Hallow's eyes widen, and I feel it through Sookie, that the fog that had protected her before is gone now. She flinches when Sookie rips something from her mentally, and is then taking my wrist and lifting it to look at my watch for the time. Kissing the back of my hand, she intertwines her fingers with mine, and looks around at the area vampires in the room who are curiously enthralled with what will happen next. Glancing at Pam, she quickly seems to think of something.

"Pam, I do believe it is closing time for the humans." There's no hesitation as the vampires stay put, the humans all starting to be ushered out as Hallow is suddenly caught in Sookie's glamour and is unable to move. The door is soon shut as Pam stands against it on guard, her arms crossed over her chest as she watches with a small smile of anticipation. My maker is equally as interested as everyone else in the room, having turned in his seat to fully face us, and I squeeze her hand in mine reassuringly.

"Patrick?" She asks, and I see a vampire walk stiffly from where he had been leaned against the wall by the bar. Recognizing him from his picture in a file in my office, I recall that his child is currently missing, and has been for several months. He had been practically haunting Fangtasia, as Pam complained several weeks ago, since he knew that any news would likely come from here first. Reaching to her bag on the floor, she pulls out a small pad of paper and a pen, my subordinate waiting patiently as she writes where I can easily see. **She was being held because Hallow planned to use her for something, but nothing has been done to her and nothing has happened to her yet. She has been fed regularly since they wanted her strong, and when you get there you can use a maker command to snap her out of the witch's control. She won't remember anything from there, as though she were asleep.** "Why don't you go down to the warehouse at the south of town, and have a good look around?" He approaches after receiving a nod from me, and pulls the paper from her outstretched hand before glancing at it and disappearing out the back door of the club. "This witch was holding his child. She planned to take Eric under her control, and subsequently as many of you as she could." Her words stop and growls fill the room as stares are levied at the witch. I realize what she is doing as I myself see who is present. None of them are foolishly young, all over two hundred and fifty as vampires from the other club had started hanging around due to Sookie's enthralling. Remembering the time she spent reading through my files recently, I wondered if she hadn't memorized all of the area vampires along with their pictures.

"She was also now planning to kill me if she could, which I don't appreciate one bit since you are all aware enough to know what would happen if I died." Oh my brilliant Sookie, what are you up to? They all know, without a doubt as her turning had made a splash with the vampire's state wide, and everyone had quickly become knowledgeable of bonded children. Giving me a mad grin, she stretches across my lap and giggles. "So Eric, how about we let _them_ decide how they would like to handle the witch." She looks back at the vampires that all suddenly have a gleam in their eye. "Would you like me to take the Sherriff and turn his back for you while you have your way with this one?" Her finger points dead at Hallow, and I can feel the charge in the air as a bloodbath is threatening to ensue.

"We would be delighted." Someone says, but I don't catch who as Sookie gives me a grin and her fingers laced with mine to squeeze my hand.

"There then. The bar is closed, I am feeling tired, and I'm sure Pam can keep things orderly as they have their way with the little plaything." Looking towards the human, she pushes her glamour to give a command. "You will not move, speak, or act until ordered to do so by someone present." Letting the glamour go, the witch doesn't move, and Sookie gives me a quick kiss. "Are you ready to go home?"

Nodding, I look to Pam and Thalia who look to be in agreement with what Sookie said. "Let us be off."

"Have fun all of you!" Sookie says in a whimsical voice, and I chuckle as she reaches down to grab her bag and we're suddenly teleporting to land in a reclining chair next to the pool.

I sense that Lafayette is inside, faint smells telling me that he is cooking her single meal of human food for the day. Despite not needing it, she still enjoys what the cook is coming up with as he seems to be spending part of his budget and time on cooking lessons and studying new things. Thinking on it reminds me of something so I stand with her to go to the living room, and sit her on the couch before giving her a stern smile. "Stay here. I've got something for you." Fliting to my office, I pull the package up out of the bottom desk drawer, and open it to pull out the brightly wrapped package. Returning to her, I sit on the couch, and she eyes present with anticipation before she suddenly frowns.

"I don't have anything for you." Laughing at her statement, I place it into her hands.

"You are my bonded child. I could not want more than you alone." There's a feeling in the bond, something that I have only ever felt from her that I can only describe as her emotionally melting when I use just the right words. I have strived as of late to coax this feeling to the surface as much as possible

Her fingers deftly remove the brightly colored paper, and she eyes the wooden polished box in her hand. "What is this?" She asks softly, and I show her how to open it.


	8. Chapter 8

Inside is a velvet lined and fitted indent holding the book that her grandmother wrote her recipes, notes and thoughts in. "This is the original book. I had replicas made though, one stocked in the library and one I gave to Lafayette. You can keep this one somewhere safe, and it will remain preserved this way as the box is specially designed to store documents, while I can have as many replicas printed as you like." The box is closed and on the table a second later, her arms thrown around my neck and her lips pushing against mine. My arms lock around her back subconsciously, and I pull her off the floor as I lift her up to my full height while still kissing her.

She giggles, holding herself up just as much as I'm supporting her, and she gives me a thoughtful look when she pulls back. "I don't regret anything, just so you know."

A lightness enters my chest, and I growl softly as I kiss her again, my fangs down and cutting her lip before I even realize it. "One would think that a thousand year old vampire would have better control over himself." She teases when she pulls back, her finger tracing down the point of my fang, making my eyes roll back and a deep purr fill the room from my chest.

 _There's no such thing as control when you are around._ I think the words towards her, unable to say them as she kisses down my throat and scrapes her own fangs against my skin. Her light emotions in the bond are enticing, making me want to bask in her presence endlessly as I simply enjoy being here with her in the moment. The bite she delivers if nothing if not careful, her mouth working the flesh perfectly as she pulls on the blood. I groan, and once again, this is something that I have not had before. Bites I'd received from other vampires tended to be rough, harsh or sudden with Godric and Pam being the exception as I usually bite myself for them to drink when it is necessary. However it's almost as though Sookie is truly trying to give me nothing but enjoyment from it which is probably exactly what she's doing, and as I've found with many things that are different about her, I like it.

She gives me a look after she cleans the bite she made, and kisses my jaw as she relaxes against my chest, snapping her fingers by my ear to create a small fire in the fireplace. I had made a point of asking Lafayette to replace the logs if he seen that it was need, and it looked like he had done so. "You are very caring." I muse in her ear, feeling the question from her. "It is unusual for me, to be treated so gently… I quite liked it."

She presses her lips to my chest, barely moving where she lays, and I hold my arms around her. "I'll have to tell Pam you want to be coddled." Her joke is softly spoken a minute later.

"I doubt she would believe you. Or she will be wise enough to know that I only enjoy that sort of attention from you." I tell her, running my fingers up her arm before I plant a kiss to her. "You are quite special, fairy princess." The emotions that were previously so light have suddenly soured slightly, and I chuckle. "It is what you are. No denying it. You are also now the bonded child of a powerful Sheriff, would you deny that?" She shakes her head slightly, and looks up at me, resting her chin below my collar bone.

"You belong to a fairy princess. Can I announce that at the Winter Gathering?" She grins widely when I just stare at her, and she puts her hands down to the fabric to leverage herself up, giving me a kiss and standing to pull me up with her. "We have our tickets I assume?"

"We leave tomorrow, and the following night is the start of the ball at two hours past sunset. I have booked the honeymoon suite in a vampire oriented hotel which is just on the opposite corner from the venue. Godric was quite pleased when he learned of it from Russel Edgington." She nods, pulling out her cell phone, and searching for something. "What?" I ask, and she looks at me curiously.

"I don't have any luggage." Nearly hitting myself for forgetting something so trivial, she tells me she will have it ordered with expedited shipping to arrive at Fangtasia during the next day while the were guards are on duty to receive it.

"I'll have them leave it in the office." I say, sending a quick text to Alcide, and Lafayette is suddenly appearing from the direction of the kitchen.

"Sooks, you's dinners ready." He's got a bright look on his face, and I wonder what there is for her to try this time.

When we get in the other room, she sits down to a cut of what I recognize as salmon, along with lots of sides and rolls. A plate of desert sweets is sitting on the counter. "That is something I can remember from being human." I say, thinking all of the way back. "There were several different kinds that our fisherman brought back, but they all tasted very similar."

"Well I can guarantee you as surely as Arlene is gon' get married a few more times that you never ate nothin' cooked by Laf." He sasses, and I raise an eyebrow at him, before ignoring it and giving my child a kiss on the cheek and taking off to my office. I file through some paperwork, and for probably the hundredth time go over that everything is set up perfectly for our absence during the ball.

We're on a plane the next night, first class commercial since the private jet needed work done. A glass of royalty blend is set before us without a word, and Sookie eyes it. "Try it." I encourage her, and I smile as she does so and realizes that it is not regular bottled blood. Grinning widely, she finishes it off before she picks up the book she had been reading. It is one that Niall brought her, only able to be read by her, and she does so silently as she occasionally takes looks outside the window. "Did he ever explain how that works?" I ask, and she nods, knowing what I'm talking since I feel that she plucked it from my thoughts.

She sends me the memory, something she has been doing more frequently when we're in company, and I smile slightly. Niall had told her that the words were written in clear ink, enchanted so that only fae could see the writing changed to whichever color the author desired. I'm surprised at the simplicity of it, and admire the blank pages as I think of the business opportunity it could be, should the ink be altered for use by vampires. Sending her the question, she mulls it over, before deciding to reach into her bag and switch books. Its several page turns before she's opening her minds eye to me, and she shows me what she is seeing right in front of her. _It should work, since this says that it's pretty simple to do it._ Her thought process is clear as I read the page through her in a second, agreeing.

"Maybe when we get into our hotel room…" She murmurs, and I nod, sending an email over the planes Wi-Fi for Pam to have clear ink delivered to my room.

 _Is it legal for makers to sell their children for sex with other people?_

"A child usually belongs to their maker, but that is sort of a grey area in our laws." I tell her too quiet for a human to hear, satisfied that we're the only vampires present as the scent of any others would have reached me by now. Her eyes meet mine as she feels me arch an eyebrow, and she frowns, mentally pointing me to the man in the window seat one aisle ahead and across from us.

 _He wants to have a night with me, and heard a rumor about makers doing that, but he's too scared to talk to you._

"Good." I growl quietly, my arm resting across her shoulder as she grins and turns her attention back to the book.

The remainder of our short flight is uneventful, our exiting the plane being before anyone else as we use our speed to get to the baggage claim an instant later. I was happy when I found that she can keep up with me without much effort.

The suitcase and dress bag come out for her a minute later and my bag comes up a short moment later before we go to find the limo that Pam had arranged to take us to the hotel. A mini bar inside is stocked with things for both vampires and humans, and she picks up a bottle before looking at me with a grin. "Do you think I can still get drunk? I mean I can eat human stuff right?"

Shaking my head, she looks disappointed for a second before becoming indifferent and setting it back down. "Your vampire metabolism will process it too quickly for the alcohol to affect you." I explain, and she nods, looking out the window as we start driving through the city.

Our hotel is discreetly set between two others easily mistaken for part of either of them as the entrance is in the rear and most humans never notice it as it's not visible from the street. A bellboy takes our bags ahead of us, and she stays against my side as I lead her into the bar, ignoring the curious looks that I receive from several of the vampires wandering around. I order a bottle of royalty blend for each of us, and direct her to sit with me in a nearby booth. She doesn't mind it a bit, drinking swiftly as I do the same, and I am setting out empty containers on the bar counter when I see that another vampire has taken to approaching Sookie. I'm behind her in a second, staring at him in my seat as I put my hands on her shoulders, and she relaxes under my touch. Her thoughts convey that he had taken a seat when she was looking down at her phone, and had immediately asked if she would be interested in spending the night with him while she remained silent until I appeared.

I can see the verbal lashing she wanted to give him, and I'm impressed as she bites her tongue, deferring to me as would be customary with her age. "My child wants nothing to do with you. Leave." He gives me a scathing look before glancing back at her as she turns away from him and stands into my side with my arm around her waist.

"You didn't even ask her." His grin is ridiculous, and I look down at her, tipping her chin up to face her fully.

"Are you interested in this vampire?" The disgust alone from her makes me smirk, and she shakes her head, pulling her phone out as she starts ignoring him.

"As you can see, she is not interested." There's a strange way his nose keeps twitching, and I feel for his age which is somewhere around Pam's.

Turning away, I make it clear that he is beneath me as we head out the door, and I tell the bartender to put the drinks on my room tab. The things I requested from the hotel are waiting on a table in front of the TV, and our suitcases are setting on luggage racks attached to the wall.

A few hours later, after several attempts at it, she finally figures out how to make the ink just right and when Godric shows up he is very interested as we show him how it works. We end up going back down to the bar, where he wants to introduce her to several of his allies from Europe. Their eyes are on us as soon as we walk through the doorway, and my arm clenches around her shoulders as they examine her.

"Marcus, this is my bonded child, Sookie." I say as he approaches. His short black hair, young face and lean frame make him appear more like a human than an ancient vampire of fourteen hundred. He bows, and holding his hand out, she takes it after a second of hesitation for him to kiss the back and release her instantly.

"A pleasure to meet the beauty that finally tamed the Viking." The remark is well worded as he folds his arms behind his back, and Sookie gives him a surprised smile, instantly starting to like the usually serious man. "News doesn't travel very fast overseas to our nests, so Godric had only just told us that you were bonded and had made her your newest child. Forgive me, but I know nothing about you but your first name."

"I'm Sookie Brigant Northman." She says, her full chosen name seeming to catch him off guard as he gives her an evaluating look, smoothing his hand over his smooth light grey suit. "Grandpa Niall couldn't be here tonight, sorry." She says brightly, as though it's nothing, and I can't help my smirk as several vampires nearby Godric fall silent and stare at her.

"You are related to that trickster man?" He grins, looking up at me quickly. "Her scent would almost make me jealous, but her being any relation to Niall, I'm sure you have your hands full so good luck." Seeing someone that catches his eye, he excuses himself and Godric walks up with a small woman. She's even shorter than Sookie, dressed in an elegant beautiful kimono and followed by two large stoic men in suits. One is also Asian while the other looks like he is German.

"I am Torin." She says, bowing to Sookie slightly, and looking up at me. "Would it be permissible to you, I would like to spend time speaking with your child if you are not busy in half an hour."

 _There is something about her… I like her. She gives off the feeling like what I'd imagine an older sister would feel like. I want to see what she has to say._ Sookie suddenly projects to me mentally, and I nod to the young Asian woman, who then goes off to get a drink with her two body guards following her. If her instinct is telling her to trust the woman, then we will follow it, as that was the same way Marcus had become an ally of mine a long time ago.

"What is this, Northman?" Sookie jumps slightly when a male vampire in a long black coat appears behind her speaking Swedish. He continues, walking around to stand before us, and I translate everything he says for Sookie mentally. "Not even a letter to tell me that you had bonded, let along turned her? I sent you an official announcement when I did it myself and you sent me a priceless antique sword, now I want to be able to return the favor. May I?" I nod, and he turns his attention to the woman at my side. "If you ever need a break from this one, you can always take a guest room in my home, as my Brenda would love to meet you. Sadly she had to stay home as she had business to attend to, but you are welcome with us anytime." He looks back to me. "I suppose you could come as well, and I'm sure you know my homes location."

I chuckle, clasping my hand in his. "Dear one, this is Aldo." She smiles, seeing the trust I have for him, and feels slightly mischievous as she goes with the light atmosphere.

"I could always have Pam spirit me away for some shopping and we could visit you for a night or two." She giggles a little as she feels accomplished to get the Swedish right, and he looks a little crazy as he grins widely.

"Oh I do like you, you'll do quite well to keep him in toe." He says to her, looking at me with a fangy laugh and clapping me on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "Be sure to come see me again soon."

We go through several more introductions, and all of mine and Godric's comrades seem to be simply charmed by her. Torin approaches the three of us a while later, and we follow with her guards behind us all as we go the elevator and end up on the top floor. "I asked for the garden top floor to be mine for the night." She explains, and we follow her down the short hallway passing a hotel security guard to get to the rooftop door.

It's clear in the bond that Sookie is surprised when we get outside, and sees the elegant garden that has been grown to perfection at the top of the building. Small tables with chairs are scattered around the pathways between the flower beds, bushes and small ponds. "What would you like to talk about?" Sookie asks in a friendly manner, and Torin smiles warmly, looking towards the door as one of the body guards locks the door. A second later a pop sounds through the air, and Niall appears with someone standing behind him.

"There is someone we would like you to meet." He says, and the small figure steps out from behind him. Torin stands beside her, and I feel Sookie's shock matching my own. As long as I'd known her, I had never known that she had a sibling, not even that she was familiar with Niall.

 _She's just like me._ Sookie says to me in a soft mental voice, stepping forward, and she seems to be communicating with the girl as Taron stands next to her sister. They are identical twins, their kimono's done in the same pattern but different color schemes. Godric seems to understand everything as he scents the air and looks at me through the maker bond. "I'm really glad to meet you Tarin." Sookie says a silent minute later, confirming what I had observed through our bond, and I can feel awe prevalent throughout her.

"We were turned by the same man, and he was killed by Niall the night after we were turned as he intended to sell us to fund a twisted war he was stirring amongst the humans." Torin tells me, and Sookie is suddenly funneling me images and scenes as the story is told to me by Tarin in detail through her.

"Sookie, the series of ten books I gave you are the compilation of my notes from the time I spent training and guiding them." One of the guards moves over without a word, taking Tarin's hand in his and pulling her against his chest. He gives me a smile, a new look on his face as he glances down at the vampire next to him. "Tarin is the only one who has the spark, and she met Gregory when we were in Frankfurt, Germany one night when the twins were only about fifty. He was two hundred, and he was enthralled with her, which she felt the same. We ended up renting a house and spending several months there while she got to know him better and finally used her spark to make a bond with him so that he could come back to faerie with us." Niall informs us, and Torin gives us a bright smile while the other man who is Torin's real guard stays by the door.

"We now live in a house in a remote part of China, far from any civilization, and only a very small number of people know the truth about my sister. Something about being turned on the same night, or being fae lineage twins, makes it so that I can hear her thoughts and respond to her. We have a sort of superficial bond, so there are times when she will shield her scent in a way to seem like she's me, and go out with Gregory." Torin tells us, and I'm not surprised as Tarin and Gregory wander off into the garden area to sit close together at one of the tables and lean quietly.

Niall gives Sookie a pointed look, and then does the same to me, "One of the incredible things about these two is that they are in communication at all times as long as they are on the same plane. No matter where on Earth either of them is, they can communicate as though they were in the same room. It's the same if they are both in fearie."

"We would like to be friends with you." Torin says, stepping closer to Sookie and handing her a plain business card. "Our address is on one side in case you would ever want to visit us, and I put all of our phone numbers on the other side. I do believe tonight's event is starting soon?" She says the last part looking at Godric.

"Wait, so if Jason were turned?" Sookie asks Niall, and he looks at her surprised.

"Jason does not have the spark, but he does seem to have an alluring nature with women, and that could hint at having a fae quality to his blood. Should he be turned, he could be just like Torin, sharing a bond with you unless that is solely an identical twin thing." She shivers, and I feel it as she thinks over the prospect of that possibility.

"Well if Jason ever meets a vampire he likes, I just hope he doesn't mind being blocked out constantly." She says, and I grin along with Niall as Godric checks his watch. Giving Sookie a conspiratorial look and beaming me a grin before turning back to her, I barely notice as Tarin and Gregory are suddenly gone. "We will be having a charity auction which starts soon, and Sookie, I wonder if you would come help me with a few things." Niall disappears without a word, and Torin walks with me when Sookie goes off with Godric as the elevator opens into the ground floor.

"I believe that you and Gregory would have a few things in common." She tells me, before turning and walking away down a hallway. I go to the large ball room which sits across the street, and take a table that I find reserved for me at the front of the room just in front of the stage.

She says suddenly as my maker walks out on stage and steps up to a microphone, white gloves on his hands as he's changed into a tailored suit. The room is full of older vampires and their companions, all of whom will be present during the ball tomorrow night.

"Thank you all for attending this charity auction, in which almost all of the pieces have been donated by someone present and appraised by someone approved by the AVL and authority. The charities that we are sponsoring with this event are listed on a card in the center of your tables." The bright lights in the room are turned off, and the lights turned toward the stage are dimmed slightly. "We are going to start things off a little differently this year, and I am going to personally be overseeing the first item up for bid." He turns around towards the back of the stage, and the curtain parts for a moment as Sookie comes out, her body hidden as she pushes a wheeled cart with a sheet over whatever is on top of it to the front of the stage. There are stares of interest on her the second she stands to reveal herself next to Godric, and her eyes lock with mine as she strokes the bond. The dress she is wearing is in a shimmering blue material, cut strategically up one of her legs and hugging every curve of her body. A neckline that can only be described as modest while still somehow being extremely enticing pulls my attention down, and I realize the material is slightly sheer over her arms and midriff. Something about the way it shimmers against her, and the way she's feeling in the bond as I stare at her hungrily makes me want to shred it from.

"I am Sookie Brigant Northman." She announces, and I notice the way she fidgets with the shoulder strap of her dress. "My grandfather, Niall, decided that he wanted to contribute to the auction as a show of good faith to the elder vampire community. For our donation, we have three bottles of pure fairy blood to be sold to the three highest bidders." A stillness goes through the room, and all eyes are on the shiny steel cart that she had pushed out as she goes over and reaches for the sheet. Pulling it off, we see a crate sitting on its side with three dark wine bottles inside, all of them looking black and nestled into a layer of shredded white paper. "These bottles are all enchanted to contain the scent, and preserve the blood within until the cork is popped. I would also like to remind the vampires that this fae blood will most definitely make you feel high, it will not provide you protection from sunlight, and you should use it in a place you feel safe. Would you like to start the bidding?" She asks, turning her head to Godric as he smiles.

It quickly goes up, the numbers reaching quite a few million before a sixty second mark is called and it comes to an end. The three vampires who won come up to the stage, Aldo one of them, and Godric quickly hands each of them a ticket. "For safety reasons, I will not release your prizes to you until after the end of the ball tomorrow night." They are all understanding, and Aldo is kind enough to give Sookie a hand off stage while she's in tall heels before she moves to sit at the table with me.

Godric has a man to run the auction come out on stage as Sookie shifts her chair closer to me until there's no space between us. _If you recall when we gave Pam that bracelet from the jewelry store, I handed her a note to get me something, and it was this dress. I seen it when we were in Dallas and thought you might like it. Do you?_ Her question is nothing but a tease as we both know that she felt my reaction through the bond when I first seen it.

Looking down at her in the seat next to me, I put my arms around her and hold her against my chest as I rumble silently. _Ask me that later when it is in pieces._ She shivers, and Godric sits at our table suddenly a moment later while the auctioneer fully takes over. Forcing my attention onto the event, we sit with my arms caged around her as things start being brought out and bid upon. Using the bond, I see her reactions, and bid on several things she likes that I will put in my home office. "You better quit." She says, despite the grin on her face and Godric gives me a curious look.

"Just because I can tell you like the things I'm buying doesn't mean anything. I'm simply trying to redecorate my office." I counter with a sly grin, and Godric catches on as he turns back to the auction with a minute smile on his face.

The proceedings are drawn out more than they need to be, and at the end I ask Godric to have my items sent to my home before I take Sookie back to our room. Sunrise comes a few hours later, and we stay awake for a little while before finally going to our day rest together, scraps of blue fabric strewn across the room.

When I rise I am pleased to find that she is next to me, as has been how I've woken every evening since I turned her, and I wonder if I'll ever get tired of this feeling first thing each night. Probably not, I decide as I place my lips tenderly to her temple and stroke her in the bond. She stretches in my arms, arching against me and purring as I growl against her. Her waking is slow, unlike the usual vampire who rises as I do in an instant, and Niall had said it was likely due to her being more fae than Torin and Tarin.

"I would like to stay this way forever." She murmurs against my lips after I've captured them, and I smile, lifting her up to sit atop me.

"Then I shall keep you here forever." Fully awake now, she gives me a suggestive look and rubs over me suggestively as I lean up to grip her hips and kiss her again.

A knock on the suite door is Godric, and I can tell that Sookie is lost to her urges as she doesn't even notice it. Her fangs are dragging against my neck a minute later as I stand with her legs wrapped around me and my arm across my back. She isn't even jostled as I open the bedroom door and then the suite door, making me a little grateful that Sookie insists we sleep dressed when away from home as Godric steps in and secures it behind him.

As of late she doesn't get nervous around him at all, and he has been keeping her company off of the stage while we were at Fangtasia. Usually he would tell her stories of when we were younger, and she had quickly started picking up Swedish when he switched to only telling her stores in the other language. Her knack for memorization seemed to progress, and she continued to learn as much as she could whenever we weren't busy.

"Are you ready to go yet, little one?" After a moment she gives one last hard pull making my eyes roll back for a second as she releases and licks over the marks tenderly. Kissing me on the cheek, she jumps down from my hold, and bounces on her step as she looks at Godric.

"Let me grab my things." She is in the bedroom and back a second later, holding her bathroom bag and the dress bag that holds the mystery gown her and Pam had been unwilling to let me see. "I'll see you soon sweetie." Her mood is light and full of anticipation as she stands on her tiptoes and goes with Godric out the door to his room so that she can get ready. I had just laughed when she had insisted on getting ready in the next room, as she had been certain her dress wouldn't last to see the ball, making me want to see it even more. The temptation had been present to sneak a peek on the previous night, but I had ultimately decided against doing so.

It takes me barely half an hour to get ready, and I am milling around in the ball room across the street as I feel Godric approaching with her. There seems to be a whisper running through the crowd, and I'm shocked when I see that they are all talking about the goddess that just walked in the door on my makers arm. Her hair is done up in such a way that I'm sure Thalia must have arrived without notifying me and helped her, her makeup perfect as her face looks natural but not completely at the same time. Her dress is long and black, skin tight with a deep neckline and a slit going up to just above the knee of each leg. She is wearing black sheer pantyhose and she eyes me as soon as she finds me in the crowd. Her amusement in the bond is clear as she finds that she was right, my intention for the dress clear as my hand clenches.

My mind wanders as I take stock of each vampire who seems interested, many of them not taking their eyes off her. I growl, and I feel her frown as a vampire only a couple of hundred years older than me steps into her path. Her arm slides over my back, having teleported to stand beside me, and the looks I receive are scathing as she wraps herself around me. "My bonded." I breathe against her neck, kissing her shoulder as my hand balls up the elastic fabric on her side. "You were right about the dress." The grin on my face seems to inspire her own, and she pecks my jaw as I lean back.

"I picked it out just for you to tear it up." The joke seems to catch several vampires, and I hear a few sniggers when a vampire comes up behind her, causing her to growl against my chest as she turns to face them. Godric appears behind her, and it says something when she doesn't even react to his appearance. "Little one, I'm sure that Sven meant nothing by his approach." His hand sits on her shoulder, and she quiets down, suddenly giving the other vampire a bright smile.

"Can I help you with something?" He seems almost taken aback by her flip, but I can feel that it's just her own mask as she is still seething within. She doesn't like him, no doubt about that, and Godric feels it as he plays the peace keeper.

"I had wondered if such an enticing creature is bound to anyone, but I see that I have my answer. Should you ever tire of the Viking, please consider my company to be yours." There is nothing but honey dripping from his words, and Sookie's arm clenches around me as he slinks away to bother someone else.

"Do not hesitate to defend yourself here." Godric whispers just behind her, and she nods almost unnoticeably. "You will be supported by many, as all of those you enthralled yesterday are here as well." I look across the room where he is looking, and see Torin with her bodyguard standing in the corner. She meets my eye for only a second before moving on, but it tells me a lot.


End file.
